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IRINCETOIJ.  N.  J. 


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Presented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Division 

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^^■^esrea.  hj-J. 


'fflUJlElL  Ti^lMi  IfQ;-; 

iTOfliTT   or    TiAMi 


SERMONS 


LIFE   OF  CHRIST. 


BY 

REV.  SAMUEL  W^ISHER,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


CINCINNATI  : 
K  O  B  E  R  T    C  L  A  11  K  E    &    CO, 

1877. 


This  volume,  publislied  by  request,  is  dediciited  to 
the  friends  and  parishioners  of  the  hito  Rev.  Samuel 
W.  Fisher,  D.D.  The  sermons  it  contained  are  a  se- 
lected portion  of  a  course  written  and  delivered  while 
resident  in  Utica.  The  final  sermon  of  this  course 
closed  his  ministry.  As  these  discourses  could  not 
have  the  benefit  of  his  own  careful  revision,  it  is 
hoped  that  whatever  is  crude  or  unfinished  will  be 
received  with  indulgence. 


Cincinnati,  May  5,  1877. 


(Hi) 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

The  preparations  for  the  coming  of  Christ — the  fi'llxess  of 

TIME  , 1 

IT. 
The  surEUNATURAi 22 

III. 
Mary,  the  mother  ok  Jesis 42 

IV. 
The  WISE  mex 60 

V. 
"Who  taught  Jesus , 81 

VI. 
John  the  Baptist 102 

VIT. 
The  baptism  of  Jesus 120 

VIII. 
The  temptation  (no.  I) — the  divine  and  iuman 137 

IX. 

The  temptation  (no.  2) — Christ  led  into  the  wilderness I.'i4 

X. 
Temi'tatfon  (no.  3) — the  tempter 170 

XI. 
The  temptation  (no.  4) 1S7 

XII. 

Ox  THE  TEMPTATION  (XO.  5) THE  SECOND  TEMPTATION 203 

(v) 


VI  CONTENTS. 


XIII. 
The  temptation 222 

XIV. 
His  pi..\N , 240 

XV. 
The  FiusT  disciples^their  training 260 

XVJ. 
The  calling  of  the  apostles 279 

XVII. 
The  apostles  (no.  2) 297 

XVIII. 

His    teachings   (no.    1) — His    character   as   a   teacher    or 

PROPHET 317 

XIX. 
The  teachings  of  Christ  (no.  2) — the  parables 332 

XX. 

His  teachings  (no.  3) — His  conversational  discourses 349 

XXI. 
His  teachings  (no.  4) — His  last  discourse 367 

XXII. 
The  last  scenes — IIis  agony  and  his  trial 384 

XXIII. 
The  crucifixion. , 401 

XXIV. 
After  death  and  before  the  resurrection 418 

XXV. 
The  resurrection 434 

XXVI. 

The  resurrection — The  direct  proof  from  the  narratives....  449 


<   OF 

■  ■  o:i 


SERMONS  ON  THE  Lfl^E 


I. 


THE  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  COMING  OF  CHRIST — THE 
FULLNESS  OF  TIME. 

"  But  vhen  the  fullness  of  the  time  was  co)iu\  God  sent 
forth  his  Son." — Galatians.  iv,  4. 

It  has  often  been  questioned  why  the  incarnation 
took  place  just  when  it  did  ;  why  was  not  tlie  Cross 
planted  in  Eden  after  the  fall  ?  or  before  the  flood  ?  or 
in  the  time  c£  Abraham  or  Moses  ?  JSTow  we  are  per- 
fectly sure  that  for  all  the  divine  acts  there  are  good 
and  suflicient  reasons — reasons  which,  when  once  they 
arc  fairly  apprehended,  will  vindicate  the  Avisdom  of 
God.  There  must  be  reasons  for  the  time  of  the  in- 
carnation, all-suthcient  to  warrant  it.  The  text  simply 
declares  that,  when  the  fullness  of  the  time  was  come, 
God  sent  forth  his  Son.  The  direct  inference  from  this 
statement  is  that  there  was  a  process  of  preparation 
going  on  fropi  the  time  of  the  fall  for  this  event.  A 
series  of  events  was  occurring,  each  occupying  a  por- 
tion of  time,  until  at  length  the  scries  was  completed  ; 
the  measure  of  time  needful  was  tilled  up ;  the  condi- 
tions essential  to  the  preparation  for  the  event  were 
all  met ;  then,  in  this  fullness  of  the  time,  the  incarna- 
tion took  place. 

Now  we  know  that,  in  reference  to  other  great  events, 


SERMONS   ON    THE 


God  made  large  preparations.  The  creation  of  man 
was  a  most  marked  event.  But  for  this  God  made 
the  most  elaborate  preparations.  He  first  created  the 
elements  of  the  world  ;  and  then  he  put  these  elements 
through  a  protracted  process  of  development  and  organ- 
ization ;  sometimes  arresting  the  process  by  a  divine  act ; 
sometimes  producing  new  organizations;  then  ming- 
ling all  together  again,  in  seeming  chaos  ;  and  thus  he 
ribbed  the  world  with  granite  and  trap  ;  compacted 
the  limestone  out  of  organic  remains ;  bedded  the  coal 
a  little  way  below  the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  injected 
the  gold  and  silver  and  iron  into  the  veins  of  rock  ;  and 
when  this  vast  work  was  accomplished,  then  he  gave 
the  earth  its  present  form,  and  covered  it  with  grass 
and  trees,  and  placed  upon  it  the  animal  life  that  now 
roams  over  it;  and  then, as  the  final  and  crowning  act, 
he  created  man  himself.  All  this  elaborate  and  mirac- 
ulous preparation  he  made  for  the  creation  of  man. 

But  the  incarnation  is  a  grander  event  than  the  cre- 
ation ;  and  for  this,  therefore,  his  preparations  extend 
down  through  four  thousand  years,  until  the  fullness  of 
the  time  had  come,  when  he  sent  forth  his  Son.  The 
Scriptures,  indeed,  do  not  specify  in  what  these  prep- 
arations consist.  But  they  have  left  us  free  to  gather 
from  the  history  of  the  world  what  in  all  probability 
were  some  of  the  reasons  for  thus  delaying  the  in- 
carnation. We  can  not,  indeed,  exhaust  the  subject; 
we  may  be  mistaken  in  some  things  ;  we  may  not 
here  reach  the  fundamental  and  most  urgent  reason 
which  exists  in  the  divine  mind  for  this  act ;  but  we 
may,  by  looking  at  the  world  in  its  history,  reach 
some  conclusions  which  to  us  seem  conclusive  and 
sufHcicnt.     Jesus  rebuked  the  learned  men  of  his  day 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  3 

for  thoAv  blindness  to  the  signs  of  the  times  which  were 
to  inaugurate  the  coming  of  tlie  Messiah,  and  thereby 
warranted  the  inference  that  the  providence  and  word 
of  God  sufficiently  indicated  that  the  fullness  of  the  time 
had  come.  Let  us,  then,  in  the  spirit  of  sincere  inqui- 
rers, see  if  we  can  not  discern  some  of  tliese  processes 
of  preparation  by  which  the  world  was  to  be  prepared 
for  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Here,  at  the  outset,  we  state  a  principle  funda- 
mental to  the  right  understanding  of  the  text — the 
principle  that  God  rules  among  all  nations,  and  has 
done  so  from  the  beginning,  permitting,  control- 
ing,  or  directing  in  all  the  atfairs  of  men  ;  that  in 
all  this  he  has  had  a  direct  and  primary  reference 
to  the  incarnation  of  Jesus.  The  opposers  of  Chris- 
tianity do  not  deny  that  his  life  constituted  a  great 
era  in  the  world's  history.  One  of  the  most  popular, 
if  not  the  most  acute  of  these,  says  "  that  all  history 
is  incom})rehcnsible  witliout  him."  lUit  we  differ 
from  them  totally  in  regard  to  the  sense  in  which  this 
is  true.  They  hold  that  Christ  is  only  one  of  the  niorst 
remarkable  elements  in  the  development  of  humanity 
— a  single  factor  in  the  account  of  human  progress, 
himself  part  of  the  development  of  the  race,  and  con- 
tributing largely  to  its  future.  We  hold  to  no  such 
tlieory  of  development.  We  hold  that  God  permitted 
humanity  to  unfold  itself  under  various  influences  in 
order  to  show  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  incarna- 
tion for  the  salvation  of  man  and  vindicate  Ilis  wis- 
dom in  the  great  plan  of  redemption.  We  believe 
that  all  the  lines  of  history  thus  converge  on  Christ, 
and  that  from  him  history  before  and  since  his  coming 
receives  its  character  and  its  solution  :  that  if  you  put 


SERMONS    ON    THE 


Christ  aside  as  a  supernatural  creation  on  whom,  as 
on  a  pivot,  the  divine  administration  over  the  race 
centers,  history  is  a  chaos,  without  light,  Avithout 
order,  without  any  intelligible  end.  On  this  subject  I 
propose  to  dwell  more  fully  in  a  subsequent  discourse, 
when  I  come  to  bring  the  theory  of  natural  develop- 
ment under  review.  And  I  state  it  now  merely  to  in- 
dicate .the  position  of  Christianity  as  recognizing  the 
whole  history  of  the  world  previous  to  Christ  as  de- 
signed to  refer  to  his  coming. 

(I  siniply  state  here,  without  stopping  to  justify  it, 
that  I  mainly  regard  the  end  of  creation  to  be  the 
harmonious  unfolding  of  the  divine  attributes  in  the 
government  of  free,  intelligent  beings,  thus  revealing 
the  highest  wisdom  of  God,  "  That  even  unto  princi- 
palities and  powers  in  heavenly  places  might  be  known 
by  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God.") 

In  addressing  you  on  this  subject  I  shall  follow  in 
the  main  two  lines  of  thought.  1.  It  was  the  purpose 
of  God  in  the  history  of  the  world  to  demonstrate  the 
absolute  necessity  of  the  incarnation  in  order  to  the 
elevation  and  salvation  of  man.  The  necessity  for  the 
sacrifice  on  the  cross  in  order  that  God  might  be  just 
while  He  justified  the  believer,  existed  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  divine  government;  but  the  feeling  of  this 
necessit}^  so  far  as  man  was  concerned,  in  order  to  his 
personal  elevation  and  salvation,  could  not  have  been 
so  plainly  demonstrated  by  the.  appearance  of  Christ 
immediately  after  the  fall.  Hence  God  sufi'ered  the 
world  to  pass  through  all  sorts  of  experiments  and 
try  all  kinds  of  methods  to  purify  and  save  itself. 
And  not  until  these  were  exhausted,  and  the  race  Avas 
plunged  into  utter  ruin,  did  Jesus  appear. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST. 


(1.)  Christiaiiity  assumes  that  God  originally  made 
a  revelation  of  Himself  to  man.  lie  gave  him  as  his 
heritage  the  great  primary  truths  of  religion.  lie 
taught  him  at  the  tirst  Ilis  pure  law.  He  assured  him 
of  pardon  through  a  hloody  sacrifice  if  he  would  only 
believe  and  obey.  He  instituted  sacrifices  to  hold  up 
this  idea  before  Ids  mind.  Now  what  was  the  result? 
Did  he  preserve  the  truth?  Did  lie  live  up  to  it? 
Did  he  rise  to  and  maintain  the  position  to  any  great 
extent  of  a  firm  believer  in  it?  To  ask  the  question 
is  to  answer  it.  History  answers  it  with  wonderful 
emphasis.  The  men  who  mocked  Noah  when  he  was 
building  the  ark  answer  it.  The  gods,  the  goddesses — 
30,000  of  them  in  Greece  alone — answer  it.  The  im- 
pure rites,  the  damnable  untruths  and  misrepresenta- 
tions of  the  Infinite  answer  it.  "  Look,"  says  John 
Howe,  "upon  the  fragments  of  that  curious  sculpture 
which  once  adorned  the  palace  of  that  great  king; 
the  relics  of  common  nations ;  the  living  prints  of 
some  undefaced  truth;  the  fair  ideas  of  things;  the 
yet  legible  precepts  that  relate  to  practice.  Behold 
with  what  accuracy  the  broken  pieces  show  them  to 
have  been  engraven  by  the  finger  of  God,  and  how 
they  now  lie  torn  and  scattered,  one  in  this  dark  cor- 
ner, another  in  that,  buried  in  hea^is  of  dirt  and  rub- 
bish. There  is  not  now  a  system,  an  entire  table  of  co- 
herent truths  to  be  found,  or  a  frame  of  holiness,  but 
some  shivered  parcels.  And  if  any,  with  great  toil 
and  labor,  apply  themselves  to  draw  out  here  one 
piece  and  there  another,  and  set  them  together,  they 
serve  rather  to  show  how  retpiisite  the  divine  work- 
manship was  in  the  original  composition,  than  for 
present  use  to  the  excellent  purpose  for  which  the 


6  SERMONS   ON    THE 

whole  was  first  designed."  So  low  had  the  world  de- 
scended, that  even  Pilate,  an  intelligent  lioraan,  could 
sneeringly  ask  Jesus,  "What  is  truth?"  as  if  truth 
were  an  imagination,  a  nonentity,  which  none  could 
possess  or  demonstrate.  This  experiment  had  been 
tried.  The  original  revelation  of  God  without  a  liv- 
ing Christ  had  failed.  Broken  up  into  fragments, 
overloaded  with  false  human  conceits,  detiled  with 
monstrous  impurities,  it  ministered  only  an  infinitesi- 
mal truth  to  the  prodigious  structures  of  error.  And 
the  living  truth  must  become  incarnate  in  order  to 
save  the  soul. 

This  fact  is  of  itself  enough  to  establish  the  neces- 
sity of  the  incarnation  with  the  most  thoughtful. 
Yet  with  many  it  has  always  been  a  cherished  theory 
that  there  were  other  forces  that  could  be  made  to 
supplement  or  take  the  place  of  this  primitive  relig- 
ious truth.  It  was  necessar}',  therefore,  in  order  to  a 
full  demonstration  of  the  inca[»acity  of  man  to  purify 
and  save  his  soul  without  a  living  Redeemer,  that  these 
forces  should  have  a  fair  trial. 

(2.)  It  has  been  supposed  that  civil  organizations 
might,  in  some  way,  assist  men  to  become  truly  re- 
ligious and  prepare  them  for  the  life  to  come.  This 
experiment,  therefore,  must  be  tried.  It  has  been  tried 
on  a  large  scale,  in  various  forms,  extending  through 
many  centuries.  Governments  of  all  kinds,  pure 
democracies,  republics,  oligarchies,  limited  and  unlim- 
ited monarchies,  have  all  tried  their  hand  at  the  re- 
ligious and  moral  elevation  of  the  people.  The  very 
principles  on  which  our  own  government  is  founded, 
and  which  we  sometimes  assume  to  be  wholly  original, 
have  been  known  and  substantially  acted  upon  in  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST. 


past.  !Now  you  are  to  bear  in  mind  that  all  these 
governments  have  uniformly  aimed  to  be  the  conserv- 
ators of  religion,  to  train  the  people  in  religious  ideas. 
The  idea  of  Church  and  State  is  not  modern.  It  is  as 
old  as  the  government  of  the  patriarchs.  There  was 
not  a  government  in  existence,  before  the  coming  of 
Christ,  that  did  not  deem  it  a  matter  of  obligation  for 
it  to  maintain  religious  worship  and  educate  the  peo- 
ple in  religious  truth.  What  was  the  result  ?  So  long 
as  the  primitive  faith  remained  in  force,  these  govern- 
ments grew  strong  and  powerful.  But  in  the  very 
process  of  development,  the  truth  itself  was  gradually 
corrupted,  the  people  sunk  lower  and  lower,  until  the 
whole  head  was  sick  and  the  whole  heart  faint.  Igno- 
rance of  the  true  God,'ignoran(!e  of  the  wa}'  of  salva- 
tion, idolatr}-,  ceremonies,  superstition,  took  the  ]>lace 
of  knowledge  and  piety.  The  few  who  retained  the 
simplicity  of  faith  were  in  despair;  the  multitude  were 
the  slaves  of  superstition.  The  experiment  of  gov- 
ernment as  a  supplementary  aid  to  religion  was  a  sad 
failure.  The  ruins  of  those  old  cities  are  not  more 
striking  witnesses  of  the  decay  of  their  governments 
than  were  the  people  themselves  at  the  coming  of 
Christ  of  the  powerlessness  of  this  force  to  elevate 
and  save. 

(3.)  But  there  are  other  forces  relied  upon  as  suffi- 
cient to  assist  in  the  elevation  and  salvation  of  men. 
A  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  literature  and 
])hilosophy,  will  refine  and  purify  the  people  and 
raise  in  them  true  ideas  of  God  and  religion  and 
make  them  penitent  believers.  This  experiment  was 
to  be  tried.  It  has  been  tried.  In  middle  Asia  and 
in  Egypt  there  was  very  early  a  vast  advance  in  in- 


8  SERMONS   ON   THE 

tellectual  development.  Then  followed  Greece  and 
Rome.  The  line  arts,  as  well  as  those  more  practical, 
attained  a  perfection  never  since  surpassed.  If  Athens 
as  she  was  in  the  day  of  her  glory  could  be  unvailed 
before  us  ;  if  you  could  stand  in  the  forum  and  look 
round  upon  the  temples,  palaces,  and  statues  that  cov- 
ered the  hills  of  Rome,  when  Christ  was  born,  we 
should  see  a  beauty  and  grandeur  in  art  incomparably 
superior  to  that  presented  by  any  city  in  Christendom, 
In  the  refinements  and  luxurious  accommodations  of 
ordinary  life,  the  palace  of  Nero  surpassed  all  modern 
edifices.  Men  go  wild  in  their  admiration  of  the  few 
specimens  of  ancient  sculpture  that  have  survived  the 
changes  of  time.  In  literature,  Homer  and  Virgil  still 
sing.  In  oratory,  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  still  thun- 
der. In  history,  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Tacitus 
are  still  read.  In  philosophy,  the  greatest  modern  in- 
tellects sit  at  the  feet  of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  The 
development  of  mind  in  all  these  directions  was 
amazing.  All  that  mind  could  do  without  Christ, 
they  did  do.  What  was  the  result?  In  one  word, 
corruption — death.  Art  and  science  corrupted  the  sim- 
ple faith  of  the  people,  and  brought  in  superstition. 
Then  philosophy  came  and  undermined  the  supersti- 
tious worship  of  the  ages  in  the  minds  of  the  most 
thoughtful,  without  leaving  anything  to  take  its  place. 
Literature  and  art  misrepresented  and  distorted  the 
original  revelation  of  God.  'Philosophy  vailed  God 
himself  from  the  world  ;  corruption  of  manners  kept 
pace  with  the  corruption  of  the  truth ;  until  vice, 
unbelief,  and  superstition  held  high  carnival  among 
men.  All  these  experiments  had  been  tried.  All  the 
forces  Avhich  could  be   relied  on  to  give  men  a  fuller 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST. 


knowledge  of  God,  to  preserve  and  make  effective 
that  wliich  was  originally  intended  for  man's  salva- 
tion, liad  been  tried,  and  tried  on  a  large  and  varied 
scale.  They  were  all  failures.  The  world  was  sink- 
ing into  utter  chaos,  night,  corruption ;  nothing  was 
left  for  it  but  to  go  on  degenerating  lower  and  lower. 
Truth  was  gone,  faith  was  dying ;  and  the  passions 
of  men,  without  these,  overleaped  the  boundaries  set 
by  a  refined  selfishness,  and  the  end  was  death.  It 
was  time  for  a  new  creation — for  a  new  revelation  of 
God — for  the  divine  Redeemer  to  appear.  The  full- 
ness of  time  had  come.  The  natural  and  originally 
divinely-given  resources  of  men  were  exhausted.  The 
way  to  heaven  was  blocked  up;  God  was  a  myth,  a 
distortion,  a  natural  law,  a  nonentity  to  the  soul.  The 
Avhole  creation  groaned  and  travailed  in  pain  ;  the 
noblest,  minds  unconsciously  hoped  and  prayed  for  his 
coming.     He  came. 

And  now,  before  I  state  to  you  the  characteristics 
of  this  fullness  of  time,  in  reference  to  the  world  at 
large,  which  made  it  the  chosen  period  of  God  for 
sending  forth  his  Son,  permit  nie  to  call  your  attention 
to  tlie  special  preparations  for  this  event  in  the  Hebrew 
nation.  The  promise  of  ]\ressiah  had  been  made  to  our 
first  parents  immediately  after  the  fall,  and  sacrifices 
were  instituted  to  show  that  without  the  shedding 
of  blood  there  was  no  remission  of  sin.  All  along  to 
the  deluge,  God  led  his  own  people  who  held  fast  to 
their  integrity.  But  when,  after  that  event,  the  pro- 
cess of  corruption  had  recommenced,  he  chose  Abra- 
ham, and  renewed  the  promise,  giving  it  this  limita- 
tion, that  in  his  seed  the  nations  of  the  world  were  to 
be  blessed.  The  whole  subsequent  history  of  this  people 


10  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

to  the  time  of  Christ  takes  its  character  from  this 
promise.  "Without  this  you  can  no  more  understand 
or  account  for  it  than  you  can  for  the  vegetation  of 
the  workl  without  the  sun.  In  the  fulfillmeut  of  this 
promise,  you  trace  a  silvery  line  of  superuatural  in- 
terference and  revelation  to  the  time  of  Christ. 
Taken  to  Egypt,  they  swell  into  the  proportions  of  a 
nation.  Amidst  the  terrors  of  ten  supernatural 
plagues,  through  the  parted  waters  of  the  sea,  mar- 
shaled h}^  the  grandest  figure  in  their  wliole  history,  they 
escape  to  the  wilderness.  Here,  in  the  presence  of  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  dwelling  for  forty  years,  the 
new  theocratic  institutions  are  imbedded  in  the  heart 
of  the  people,  and  they  enter  Canaan  a  strong,  com- 
pact, well-ordered  nation.  The  tendencies  to  sink 
down  to  the  level  of  the  idolatrous  nations  are  coun- 
teracted by  the  written  law,  by  a  succession  of  in- 
spired prophets,  by  fierce  judgments,  and  temporary 
exile.  Meanwhile,  the  heart  of  the  nation  is  inspired 
by  the  grand  promise  of  a  Messiah  given  to  Abra- 
ham. This  promise  glows  brighter  from  age  ;  the  faint 
aurora  blushes  and  glows  in  anticipation  of  the  morn- 
ing; John  appears,  the  star  that  heralds  the  sun  and 
tells  that  the  night  is  past.  The  nation,  in  fear  of 
foreign  subjection,  trembles,  and  looks  upward  to  God 
for  deliverance,  and  anxiously  longs  and  waits  for  her 
anointed  king.  The  prophecies  are  studied  with  a 
fearful  interest ;  they  are  discussed  on  every  hillside, 
and  in  every  habitation.  The  one  vision  that  fills 
every  eye  is  the  reigning,  conquering  Messiah.  This 
truth,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  national  exist- 
en-ce,  has  never  been  lost.  Starting  in  Eden,  renewed 
in   Abraham,  the  grand  fact  of  redemption  for  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  11 

world,  to  preserve  which  and  prepare  the  way  for  its 
realization  this  nation  was  set  apart,  has  held  on  its 
course  ;  has  inspired  the  hopes  of  millions  ;  has  given 
voice  to  prophets ;  has  been  chorused  in  national 
psalms ;  has  tilled  with  anticipated  glory  the  sacred 
temple.  The  hour  has  come  ;  the  place  is  prepared  ; 
Jesus  is  born  ;  the  scepter  so  long  uplifted,  waning  at 
times,  for  a  short  period  lowered  to  the  Assyrians,  next 
in  the  hand  of  Ilerod,  is  seized  by  the  infant  king  as 
the  sign  of  a  spiritual  and  universal  supremacy. 
Herod  dies,  Tiie  national  constitution,  its  great  pur- 
pose accomplished,  is  dissolved.  The  Roman  eagles 
are  on  Mount  Moriah  ;  the  Roman  lictors_  and  fasces 
are  in  the  hall  of  judgment.  The  national  heart  throbs 
convulsively  for  a  little,  and  then  is  still  forever.  Judah 
is  dead ;  but  Shiloli  has  come,  and  the  law  goes  forth 
from  Jerusalem  to  till  the  world  with  light, 

JSTow,  then,  let  us  look  at  some  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  this  fullness  of  time,  Avhich  rendered  it  spec- 
ially fit  to  be  the  time  when  God  should  send  forth  his 
Son.  And,  lirst,  you  will  notice  the  populousness  of 
it.  Had  Christ  appeared  when  the  earth  was  unpeo- 
pled, and  but  a  few  hundreds  or  thousands  roamed 
over  it,  the  main  elements  of  its  power  would  have  been 
wanting.  Seen  by  few,  heard  by  few,  the  Cross  would 
have  been  a  transient  vision ;  it  could  not  have 
planted  itself  in  the  heart  of  a  world  of  living  men. 
But  now  millions,  hundreds  of  millions,  waited  for 
that  vision.  The  light  from  Calvary  could  be  seen 
over  the  earth  ;  the  voice  from  Calvary  could  pierce 
the  cities  and  villages  of  a  vast  population, 

1,  Now,  it  is  a  fact  most  wonderful  that  the  major 
part  of  this  population,  at  least  the  civilized  ^jortion 


12  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

of  it,  just  at  this  time  had  been  compacted  into  a 
great  empire.  Hitherto  the  development  of  nations 
had  been  individual,  isolated,  narrow.  Limited  in 
space,  provincial  in  character,  passionately  attached  to 
its  own  institutions,  bitterly  opposed  to  all  others, 
without  inter- communion,  without  common  bonds 
and  interests,  differing  in  language  and  in  customs, 
each  nation  was  a  fortress  frowniug  defiance  against 
all  others,  counting  foreigners  as  spies  and  enemies, 
and  pledged  to  resist  unto  the  death  all  institutions 
and  influences  alien  to  their  own  national  life  ;  war 
was  their  normal  condition ;  peace  the  exception. 
Here  and  there  a  few  conquerors,  like  i^ebuchadnezzer 
and  Alexander,  had  grasped  a  few  kingdoms,  but 
death  soon  dissolved  the  connection.  Had  Christ  ap- 
peared at  that  time,  each  separate  nation  would  have 
barred  out  his  disciples ;  he  would  have  been  to  them 
but  a  foreign  god,  a  provincial  deity,  seeking  to  over- 
turn their  national  religion,  and  on  its  ruins  erect  a 
foreign  dynasty.  In  order  that  the  fullness  of  time 
should  come,  the  divine  providence  must  largely  in- 
troduce new  conditions  into  the  relations  of  these 
worldly  nations.  More  than  seven  hundred  years  had 
passed  since  an  obscure  adventurer  had  laid  the  ma- 
terial foundations  of  his  kingdom  on  the  Ca[)itoline 
hill.  His  people,  possessed  of  a  rare  genius  for  gov- 
ernment, inspired  during  all  their  earlier  course  by  a 
simple  faith  in  God,  and  regard  for  the  just  rights  of  man, 
gradually  extend  their  dominion  over  their  own  Italy, 
and  then,  with  mighty  strides,  they  march  to  the  con- 
quest of  the  world.  They  know  it  not,  but  a  divine 
hand  is  marshaling  their  legions,  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  coming  of  his  Son.      Scipio  and  Caesar  are 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  13 

the  unconscious  soldiers  of  God.  Seven  hundred  and 
fifty  years  have  gone.  From  the  gates  of  Hercules  to  the 
banks  of  Euphrates  ;  from  the  deserts  of  Africa  to  the 
Frith  of  Sohvay  their  eagles  have  ilown  in  triumph, 
and  Home  is  mistress  of  the  world.  This  vast  aggre- 
gation of  kingdoms  she  rules  with  a  stern,  yet,  in  the 
main,  a  beneliceut  scepter.  Iler  bridges  span  every 
stream;  her  roads,  imperial  in  vastness,  net-work  this 
new  world.  Individual  nations  are  known  no  more; 
Konie  alone  is  felt,  is  heard  supreme.  From  ocean  to 
river,  over  mountain  and  valley,  her  couriers  lly ; 
thought  flashes  free  from  Mt.  Lebanon  to  the  Alps ; 
the  whispers  of  Carthage  are  heard  at  Corinth  ;  the 
voices  of  Rome  echo  all  round  the  vast  concave.  To 
the  Roman  citizen  the  gates  of  cities,  of  nations  fly 
open,  and  the  pathway  of  Prince  Immanuel  is  prepared 
by  pagan  hands.  Then  He  came,  and  on  the  central 
spot  where  these  continents  unite,  the  Cross  was 
reared  in  view  of  all  this  people,  and  from  that  spot 
the  messengers  of  truth  went  forth  to  proclaim  it  in 
every  city  and  village.  The  temple  of  Janus  was 
shut  for  the  third  time  in  750  years ;  Rome  in  her  im- 
perial Augustus  rested  from  conquest  and  in  silence 
Avaited  the  coming  of  her  King. 

(3)  It  is  also  a  circumstance  of  no  small  signiflcance 
in  reference  to  the  fullness  of  time,  that  the  languages 
of  civilization,  the  medium  of  intercourse  between  all 
parts  of  this  emi)ire,  had  been  practically  reduced 
to  two.  The  flrst  was  the  language  of  Greece — -the 
language  of  the  highest  form  of  literature,  the  lan- 
guage of  science  and  philosophy,  in  which  the  ripest 
mental  development  of  the  ages  was  embodied. 
AVhen    Alexander    in    his    meteor-like    course   swept 


14  SERMONS   ON    THE 

from  the  JE^gean  to  the  Nile,  and  from  the  Nile  to  tlie 
Euphrates,  he  carried  with  him  the  language  and  the 
science  of  Greece;  when  Rome  conquered  Greece,  she 
carried  westward  with  her  the  mental  treasures  of  the 
vanquished ;  and  thus  the  Greek  had  become  the 
language  of  the  more  learned  and  thoughtful  over  a 
large  section  of  the  empire.  The  second  was  the 
Latin;  the  language  of  the  conquerors,  the  language 
of  law,  everywhere  spoken  among  the  rulers,  and 
largely  among  the  ruled.  In  one  of  these  languages 
the  Old  Testament  was  early  translated,  the  New  Test- 
ament originally  written.  In  the  other  the  whole  was 
translated  ;  and  thus  the  way  was  prepared  for  its 
rapid  spread  through  every  part  of  the  empire.  A 
common  language  makes  thought  common ;  discovery, 
invention,  science,  religious  truth,  on  these  winged 
couriers  traversed  easily,  rapidly,  every  part  of  the 
empire.  Christ  is  crucilied  to-day  on  Calvary  ;  before 
the  week  is  past  it  is  knoAvn  in  Rome.  Possessed  of 
these  two  tongues,  the  Apostles  found  hearers  innumer- 
able wherever  they  went;  and  thus  a  pathway  for 
the  truth  was  opened  all  over  the  civilized  world. 

(4)  Another  circumstance  of  vast  im[)ortance  was 
that  this  was  the  first  age,  since  the  promise  was  made 
to  our  first  parents,  when  this  stupendous  event  of  the 
incarnation  with  all  its  attendant  facts  could  be  most 
fully  attested,  tested,  and  established  on  foundations 
that  after-refinements  of  criticism  could  not  possibly 
overturn.  The  civilization,  the  literature,  the  science, 
of  this  age  contributed  directly  to  this  result,  and  made 
it  the  most  fitting  of  all  times  for  Christianity  to  com- 
mence its  course.  The  conquests  of  Alexander  had 
given  a  peculiar  character  to  the  civilization  of  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  15 


countries  around  the  eastern  portions  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. The  conquests  of  Home  had  effected  a  similar 
result  over  the  western  world.  They  were  terrible  in- 
deed in  their  progress ;  but  afterward,  like  the  subsid- 
ence of  a  resistless  flood,  there  was  deposited  a  new 
soil,  rich  and  productive.  There  was^  remarkable 
activity  of  thought;  the  combination  of  Grecian  learn- 
ing and  Roman  law  stimulated  mind  all  over  the  empire. 
It  was  the  age  of  history.  Men  had  passed  out  of  the 
myths  and  shadows  of  primeval  times.  They  stood  out 
strong  and  clear  in  the  light  of  a  questioning,  scrutin- 
izing age.  A  thousand  pens  were  busy  recording  the 
facts  which  thousands  of  minds  were  equally  busy 
gathering  up.  Authentic  history  had  fully  commenced 
its  course;  and  henceforth  all  facts  of  prime  import- 
ance to  the  race  within  the  circuit  of  that  civilization 
would  be  so  recorded  that  all  future  time  should  be 
able  to  know  them.  The  great  historians  of  the  world, 
outside  the  Bible,  when  they  reach  this  period  move 
forward  with  all  the  confidence  of  assured  knowledge. 
The  materials  for  historj'  in  the  form  of  coins,  monu- 
ments, letters,  books,  and  contemporary  records,  are 
all-sufficient  to  enable  the  historian  to  place  us  in  a  po- 
sition from  which  we  can  trace  out  the  vital  currents 
in  their  flux  and  reflux  through  the  most  part  of  this 
wide  empire.  Then  God  sent  forth  his  Son.  Profane 
history  records  His  life  and  death  ;  sacred  history  re- 
cords that  life  and  death  with  all  their  wondrous  con- 
nections— tens  of  thousands  listened  to  the  attesting 
witnesses  of  that  sublime  career,  and  faith  in  Jesus 
grew  strong  and  began  its  miglity  march  through 
the  world. 

Jt  was  also  an  age  of  doubt  and  unbelief.     There 


16  SERMONS   ON   THE 

was  an  immense  intellectual  fermentation  among  the 
educated  classes.  Men  speculated  on  all  subjects, 
divine  and  human.  Philosophy  had  gone  forth 
from  Athens,  and  sat  enthroned  on  the  capitol.  Her 
scholars  were  in  every  city  and  town  of  the  em- 
pire ;  they  thought  with  amazing  acuteness ;  they 
reasoned  with  a  most  subtle  logic ;  they  wrote 
with  classic  elegance.  Yet,  outside  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  there  was  not  a  single  mind  that  grasped 
with  a  firm  faith  even  the  truths  of  natural  religion. 
They  questioned,  doubted  everything,  from  the  mate- 
rial world  on  which  they  trod  to  the  Infinite  God  in 
whom  they  lived.  Philosophy  proved  itself  powerless 
to  create ;  mighty  only  to  destroy.  It  had  under- 
mined the  superstitious  faith  on  which  Polytheism 
rested;  but  with  it,  all  true  faith  had  fallen.  The 
multitude  were  wedded  to  their  idols ;  but  the  lead- 
ers, the  thinkers,  the  educated  minds  groped  houseless, 
homeless  in  utter  darkness.  They  had  burned  down 
God's  temple ;  they  had  put  out  the  sacred  fire  on  the 
altar.  Hungry,  thirsty,  benighted,  they  wandered 
amidst  the  ruins  and  beheld  the  eternal  verities  of 
God  as  specters  and  ghosts  haunting  their  unquiet 
souls.  From  superstition  they  swung  into  natural- 
ism, into  pantheism,  into  cold,  dark  atheism.  Then 
God  sent  forth  his  Son.  At  once  the  armed  soldiers 
of  science  and  philosophy  bristled  defiance.  They 
questioned,  argued,  sneered  ;  their  blows  fell  fast  and 
heavy ;  their  dialectic  arrows  sought  some  vital  spot 
in  Christianity  to  pierce  its  heart.  In  vain  !  in  vain! 
Its  fame  enlarged ;  its  power  increased;  the  cobwebs 
of  their  philosophy  it  brushed  away;  it  silenced  their 
finest  intellects:  it  drew  over  to  itself  the  noblest  of 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  17 

their  army.  Christianity,  tested,  opposed,  questioned, 
denied,  by  the  intellect  of  that  age,  rose  superior  to 
it  all.  The  ark  of  God,  moved  by  power  divine,  met 
all  the  waves  of  human  opposition,  and  bore  onward 
to  the  future  the  hopes,  the  redemption  of  humanit}'. 
Since  then  science  and  philosophy  have,  again  and 
again,  renewed  the  assault.  Every  argument  they 
have  framed,  every  conclusion  the}'  have  reached, 
Christianit}'  met,  Christianity  nnUitied  in  its  cradle. 
God  gave  us  the  incarnate  Son  in  an  age  when  his 
claims  could  be  tested  and  tried  b}'  all  the  force  of 
human  learning  and  skill.  He  came  forth  from  the 
fiery  trial  triumphant.  The  kingdom  he  established, 
has  beneath  it  the  solid  rock — all  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

(5.)  Once  more.  In  estimating  this  age  as  one  pe- 
culiarly fitted  for  the  coming  of  Christ,  we  must  take 
into  the  account  two  closely-related  facts.  The  first 
is  the  presence  of  Jews  in  the  more  prominent  por- 
tions of  the  empire.  The  great  dispersion,  five  hun- 
dred years  before  Christ,  left  man}-  of  them  in  the 
east.  After  the  time  of  Alexander  we  find  them  in 
Egypt,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  Greece,  and  finally  in  Rome 
itself.  So  numerous  and  strong  were  they  in  Alex- 
andria, that,  three  hundred  years  before  Christ,  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Old  Testament  into  Greek  was  made  for 
their  benefit.  Wherever  they  went  they  held  fast  to 
their  faith.  They  built  synagogues  for  Sabbath  wor- 
ship, and  as  often  as  they  were  able  sent  their  delegates 
with  offerings  to  attend  the  great  feasts  and  temple  ser- 
vices at  Jerusalem.  Xow  when  the  disciples,  in  fulfill- 
ment of  Christ's  command,  went  forth  to  preach  his 
gospel,  they  found  these  synagogues  in  large  numbers. 


18  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

and  every  synagogue  was  to  them  a  pulpit  with  a  tit 
audience,  from  which  and  to  which  they  preached  the 
truth.  Thus  the  providence  of  God  had  singularly 
prepared  the  w-ay  for  the  diffusion  of  Cllristianit3^ 
IvTor  is  this  all.  These  Jews  had  influence.  The  great 
truth  they  held,  many  of  the  pagans  had  accepted. 
It  had  affected  many  minds  outside  of  the  synagogue. 
In  some  way  the  world  at  this  time  had  come  largely 
to  share  with  them  in  the  expectation  that  a  great 
king  was  to  arise,  who  should  restore  the  world  to 
order.  I  shall  speak  more  particularly  of  this  when 
we  come  to  the  visit  of  the  wise  men  to  the  infant 
Jesus.  It  is  enough  for  me  now  to  state  the  undoubted 
fact  that  such  an  expectation  existed  in  multitudes  of 
the  most  reflective  and  earnest  minds.  The  religions 
of  the  world  were  dying  out.  Judaism  alone  was 
vigorous  and  strong.  Men  longed  and  sighed  for 
some  one  to  arise  who  could  shed  light  on  the  great 
problems  of  the  soul  and  eternity.  Human  devices 
had  failed.  Human  science  had  failed  to  tind  out 
God.  The  wisdom  of  men  conducted  only  to  doubt 
and  despair.  The  great  heart  of  humanity  groaned 
in  anguish  for  the  truth  of  God.  God,  the  soul,  sin, 
the  w^ay  of  pardon,  immortality  —  these  were  the 
great  themes  about  which  men  always  must  think  ; 
on  which  they  must  feel ;  for  these  involve  the  value  of 
this  life  and  its  destiny  beyond  the  grave.  And  here 
all  was  darkness.  Sin  and  death  reigned  on  every 
side.  "Was  there  no  hope  for  the  hereafter  ;  was  there 
no  way  of  escape  from  these  terrible  evils  ?  Is  death 
the  end  of  man,  or  does  he  live — live  to  suffer  and  sin 
in  anotlicr  world  ?  Is  there  a  personal  God  ?  Is  he 
willing  to  save?     How  can  a  man  be  just  with  him? 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  19 

Oh!  where  shall  a  man  go  for  light  on  these  fearful 
themes?  To  histor}'?  It  is  full  of  fahlcs  and  follies. 
To  philosojihy  ?  It  knows  nothing,  it  does  nothing 
but  to  deepen  the  darkness.  How,  oh  how,  from  these 
l)lack  depths  into  which  our  sinning  race  had  de- 
scended, did  the  anguished  cry  of  souls  despairing 
go  up  to  God  for  light,  for  truth,  for  redemption  ! 
Then  it  was,  when  a  world  in  darkness  felt  its  need,  a 
babe  was  born  in  Bethlehem — a  God-man  died  on 
Calvary.  The  light  kindled  there  blazed  brighter  and 
brighter.  It  spread  from  mountain-top  to  mountain- 
top — higher  it  rose,  down  into  the  valleys  it  sent  its 
beams — millions  of  eyes  were  upturned  to  catch  its 
beams.  The  dwellers  on  the  mountain-tops  and  in 
the  vales  shouted  together — "  Praise  God,  his  Son  is 
born — our  Redeemer  has  come — we  know — we  live 
forever !" 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  set  before  you  some  of 
the  reasons  which  delayed  the  great  event  of  the  in- 
carnation ;  some  of  the  peculiar  preparations  for  it 
which,  when  completed,  rendered  this  period  the  full- 
ness of  time.  Other  questions  there  are  connected  with 
this  subject,  to  discuss  which  would  demand  a  longer 
time  than  can  now  l)e  devoted  to  them.  But,  so  far 
as  we  have  gone,  there  is  enough  seen  to  iHustrate  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  choosing  just  this  time  for  the  send- 
ing forth  of  his  Son.  Through  longperiodsGod  wrought 
as  it  were  in  the  outer  circle,  among  material  elements, 
to  prepare  tlie  world  for  the  abode  of  man  ;  then  when 
the  fullness  of  time  for  this  had  come,  lie  reformed 
the  earth,  planted  it  with  vegetable  and  peopled  it 
with  animal  life,  and  i>laced  man  a  living  soul  upon  it. 
When  he  had  fallen,  the  promise  of  Messiah  is  given  ; 


20  SERMONS   ON    THE 

then,  through  a  succession  of  changes  and  develop- 
ments, the  process  of  preparation  for  its  fulfilhnent  ad- 
vances, until,  at  the  end  of  4,000  j^ears,  Christ  the 
Lord,  the  mighty  God,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  is  born. 
The  event,  so  grand,  so  divine,  the  union  of  God  with 
man,  is  worthy  of  all  this  preparation.  The  sublimest 
event  in  history,  infinitel}'  above  material  creations  and 
natural  laws,  is  the  event  for  which  the  world  waited, 
the  event  wdiich  now  most  stirs  the  hearts  and  wakens 
the  thoughts,  and  is  the  foundation  of  the  noblest 
hopes  of  all  the  race.  Every  man,  who  has  ever 
lieard  of  Jesus,  feels  in  his  inmost  soul  an  instinctive 
anticipation  of  blessing  from  his  power.  Infidel  or 
Christian,  hating  the  doctrines  of  the  Cross  or  loving 
them  down  deep  in  his  soul,  there  is  a  felt  want  of  just 
such  a  Savior,  a  half  or  well  formed  hope  that  to  him 
this  Christ  will  open  the  gates  of  immortality.  You 
may  feel  uneasy  when  we  preach  to  you  of  the  worth 
of  the  soul  ;  that  no  man  can  be  just  before  God;  that 
you  must  love  God  in  Christ  more  than  all  earthly 
friends,  because  the  sinfulness  of  your  hearts  resist 
the  spiritual  and  holy  conditions  on  which  alone  you 
can  become  the  sons  and  daughters  of  God,  the  breth- 
ren and  the  redeemed  of  Jesus;  because  this  very  uneas- 
iness, like  the  excitement  which  results  from  the  fever 
in  your  blood,  is  the  sign  of  your  want  of  just  this 
spiritual  renovation.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  this,  you 
know  that  deep  in  your  underlying  consciousness  is 
the  secret  hope  that  this  Christ  will  become  your  sal- 
vation, and  that  if  He  were  blotted  out,  the  sun 
would  be  darkened  and  despair  would  settle  upon  your' 
soul.  Why  then,  O  sinner,  when  God  has  made  such 
vast  preparations  for  this  sublime  event,  when  this 


LIFE    OF   CHEIST.  21 

sun  in  the  fullness  of  time  has  risen,  Avhy,  when  His 
beams  shine  on  you  and  show  the  path  to  heaven, 
why,  oh,  why,  will  you  criticise  and  iind  fault  with 
the  blessed  message,  with  the  prescriptions  of  the 
heavenly  physician?  Why,  oh,  why,  will  you  doubt, 
deceive  3'ourselves,  and  linger,  and  not  avail  your- 
selves at  once  of  the  wonderful  redemption  Jesus  has 
wrought  out  for  you  ?  This  alone  can  bless  you  here, 
can  save  you  hereafter.  Last  Sabbath  eve  I  read  to 
yon,  in  the  opening  of  the  service,  the  27th  "Psalm — 
"  The  Lord  is  my  light  and  my  salvation."  A  friend  who 
had  been  in  the  Christian  Commission  attending  npon 
our  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  remarked  to  me,  that 
immediately  after  the  battle  that  necessitated  the  sur- 
render of  Richmond,  among  a  number  of  wounded 
brought  into  his  ward  there  was  one  young  man  from 
Iowa;  he  w^as  lying  on  his  face,  with  a  terrible  wound 
in  his  back.  The  ph^-sician  at  once  pronounced  his 
case  hopeless;  the  nurse  spoke  to  him  tenderly,  and 
told  him  he  must  soon  die.  Raising  himself  on  one 
arm,  he  said  he  had  a  mother  and  sisters  in  low^a,  but 
the  Lord  would  take  care  of  them;  then,wdth  a  sweet 
smile  on  his  countenance,  he  said,  The  "  Lord  is  my 
light  and  my  salvation  ;  whom  shall  I  fear !  "  and  sank 
down  and  died.  Oh  !  who  would  exchange  the  blessed 
confidence  of  this  d^'ing  soldier,  in  the  hour  when 
heart  and  flesh  shall  fail  you,  for  all  the  learning,  the 
station,  the  wealth,  of  this  world  ?  Come,  sinner, 
come  to-night,  and  put  your  trust  in  our  Immanuel, 
and  He  shall  be  to  you  light  and  salvation  evermore  ! 


22  SERMONS   ON    THE 


II. 


THE    SUPERNATURAL. 

'■^Aiul  the  angel  cmswered  and  said  unto  her,  the  Holy 
Ghost  shall  come  -upon  thee,  and  the  iiower  of  the  Highest 
shall  overshadoiD  thee;  therefore  also  thai  holy  thing  which 
shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God." — 
Luke  i,  35. 

We  are  entering  on  the  biography  of  the  snblimest 
life  in  history.  The  origin  of  one  whose  character, 
rank,  and  influence  stand  out  in  such  brilliant  con- 
trast with  all  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  past,  is  in- 
vested with  tlie  deepest  interest.  Whence  came  he  ? 
What  unseen  influence  molded  and  informed  this 
transcendent  life?  Wns  it  a  happy  combination  of 
merely  human  elements,  or  was  there  a  divine  life 
coming  down  into  the  human,  and  giving  to  the  world 
a  new  birth  far  above  and  beyond  the  product  of  na- 
tural laws?  The  text  answers  this  question  ;  it  intro- 
duces us  at  once  to  the  supernatural;  it  gives  to 
Christ  an  origin  above  the  course  of  human  genera- 
tion. God  is  immediately  his  father.  On  one  side 
he  is  the  son  of  Mary ;  on  the  other,  the  son  of  the 
Highest.  On  this  as  a  primary  fact,  Cliristianity  is 
built.  This  fact  and  all  .kindred  facts  are  opposed 
and  denied  by  a  large  class  of  unbelievers.  They  as- 
sume that  natural  l^ws  are  never  superseded,  set  aside, 
or  repressed  by  any  special  divine  influence;  that  we 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  23 

have  uotliing  to  do  in  this  world  with  anythiiif)^  but 
these  laws  of  nature,  and  tliat  these  are  all-sufficient 
to  produce  all  the  results  which  have  occurred  or  ever 
will  occur.  I^ature  with  them  is  the  only  God  with 
whom  we  are  conversant.  Given,  matter  and  a  few 
elementary  laws,  and  the  universe  is  the  result.  There 
is  no  action  of  a  divine  mind  in  controlling  or  direct- 
ing these  forces ;  there  is  no  immediate  divine  influ- 
ence from  without  coming  down  into  this  world  to 
affect  its  destin}'  or  elevate  its  inhabitants.  Xature  is 
a  perfect  system,  needing  nothing,  susceptible  of  no 
change,  subject  to  no  intiuence  of  a  Superior  Mind. 
On  the  other  hand,  Christianity  holds  that  the  great 
moving  power  in  the  universe  is  a  divine,  personal 
mind ;  that  all  matter  and  its  laws,  and  all  the  intelli- 
gences of  the  world,  and  all  the  life  in  it,  are  the  pro- 
duct of  His  creative  will ;  that  controls  all  things  and 
supplements  all  other  forces  when  lie  thinks  best  by 
His  divine  power,  and  so  makes  all  His  creatures  sub- 
servient to  His  own  design  in  creation.  I  propose  in 
this  discussion  to  set  before  you  some  of  the  grounds 
b}^  which  this  opinion  of  the  Christian  church  is  jus- 
tified, and  then  show  you  the  special  reason  for  our 
faith  in  Christ  as  the  divine  incarnation.  It  will  be 
my  endeavor  to  avoid  metaphysical  niceties,  and  limit 
the  discussion  to  a  few  points  level  to  the  common 
sense  of  every  man.  Those  who  Avish  to  see  the  sub- 
ject discussed  more  elaborately  should  consult  the 
written  treatises — such  as  McCosh's  Divine  Govern- 
ment, Coleridge's  works,  Bushnell's  Nature  and  the 
Supernatural,  Prof.  Fisher's  work  on  the  superna- 
tural origin  of  Christianity,  and  uiore  than  all  others, 


24  SERMONS   ON    THE 

the  Bible  itself,  the  finest  monument  of  the  super- 
natural. 

1.  Let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  'presumptive  ar- 
gument. Here  we  must  at  the  outset  discriminate 
between  miracles  technically  so  called,  and  that  divine 
influence  which  works  in  providence,  in  revelation, 
and  in  the  hearts  of  men.  The  miracle  in  this  limited 
sense  is  a  visible  manifestation  of  divine  power  above 
and  beyond  the  laws  of  nature  or  the  power  of  the 
Jiuman  will.  It  must  be  open  and  clear,  so  as  to  be 
fully  attested.  It  must  be  wrought  for  an  object  suffi- 
ciently great  to  justify  it.  On  the  one  hand,  we  say 
that  a  miracle  must  be  sp  attested  that  its  falsity  would 
be  as  great  a  miracle  as  its  truth.  On  the  other  hand, 
that  the  object  to  be  accomplished  by  it  must  be  spe- 
cial, of  great  importance,  and  one  that  in  no  other 
way  could  be  effected.  Even  with  these  conditions 
of  a  miracle,  it  is  obvious  the}^  can  not  be  ordinary 
events,  for  this  would  destroy  their  efficacy.  Besides, 
the  occasions  for  them  can  only  exist  at  rare  intervals 
in  the  world's  history.  And  this  corresponds  exactly 
with  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  presumption,  there- 
fore, is  against  a  miracle  as  an  ordinary  event — a  pre- 
sumption which  must  be  overcome  by  the  two  condi- 
tions already  stated  :  1.  Tlie  fullest  attestation  ;  2.  The 
character  of  the  object  to  be  attained,  and  the  neces- 
sity for  such  a  divine  interference  to  accomplish  it. 
The  presumption  is,  therefore,  not  that  miracles  are 
never  wrought,  as  some  assert,  but  that  they  are  not 
ordinary  or  usual.  There  is  a  very  strong  presump- 
tion that  men  of  transcendent  genius,  like  Plato,  or 
Taul,  or  j^apoleon,  or  Milton,  are  not/ to  be  found  in 
every  village  ;  for  God  rarely  endows  men  with  such 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  25 

powers,  and  raises  them  up  only  for  great  occasions. 
But  this  is  no  argument  against  their  occasional  ap- 
pearance ;  it  does  not  prove  that  such  men  never  have 
existed.  It  only  i)uts  us  on  our  guard  against  confound- 
ing mediocrity  with  genius,  and  obliges  us  to  wait 
for  the  proof  before  we  give  credit  to  any  man  for  the 
possession  of  such  transcendent  endowments.  The  mo- 
ment, however,  we  leave  this  limited  iicld  of  divine 
influence  and  ascend  to  the  broader  one  of  Providence 
and  revelation,  the  presumption  is  all  on  this  side. 
The  voice  of  the  world  is  in  favor  of  it.  The  belief  in 
an  immediate  divine  influence,  above  and  beyond  the 
laws  of  nature,  working  in  the  world,  in  man,  execut- 
ing the  designs  of  a  great  moral  Governor,  and  over- 
ruling matter  and  mind  to  effect  His  purposes,  is 
as  ancient  as  tradition,  as  universal  as  man.  So  true 
is  this,  that  even  those  few  philosophers  who,  here  and 
there  in  the  world's  history,  have  sought  to  reason  a 
personal,  ruling  God  out  of  the  universe,  and  reduce 
everything  to  nature,  can  hard4y  be  deemed  excep- 
tions. They  never  emancipated  themselves  from  this 
belief.  What  IMutarch  says  of  some  in  his  day  is  true 
of  many,  if  not  quite  all.  "  These  men,"  he  says,  "  fear 
the  gods  and  fly  to  them  for  succor.  The}-  flatter 
them  and  insult  them  ;  they  pray  to  them  and  com- 
plain of  them."  Prayer  is  the  recognition  of  this  be- 
lief. "For  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that 
He  is,  and  that  He  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  dili- 
gently seek  Him."  And  this  involves  the  whole  the- 
ory of  Christianity  on  this  subject.  Where,  in  the 
past  or  present,  can  you  find  men  who,  in  the  crisis 
of  their  lives,  in  the  time  of  their  trouble,  do  not 
in  some  way  pray,  as  did  the  woul(l-l)e  atheist,  Hume, 


26  sermojVs  on  the 


on  his  dying  bed.  Why,  such  men  would  be  simply 
monstrosities,  without  the  instincts,  the  feelings,  of 
humanity.  But  if  such  a  belief  exists,  and  has  alwaj^s 
existed  among  men,  how  can  you  account  for  it? 
Only,  it  seems  to  me,  on  one  or  all  of  these  supposi- 
tions: 1st,  On  the  ground  of  an  original  revelation; 
2d,  for  the  reason  that  God  has  made  such  manifesta- 
tions of  Himself  and  His  power  in  the  world  that  men 
have  felt  compelled  to  recognize  it ;  or,  3d,  from  the 
constitution  of  the  soul,  vyhich,  in  its  natural  working, 
necessitates  such  a  belief.  To  one  or  all  of  these  causes 
combined  yon  must  trace  back  this  belief  in  an  immed- 
iate divine  influence.  A  universal  efteet  must  have  a 
universal  cause;  and,  if  so,  you  have  an  argument  which 
no  man,  however  acute  his  intellect,  has  ever  been 
able  to  meet. 

It  may  be  said  that  men  are  superstitious ;  that  they 
have  abused  this  principle;  that  they  multiplied 
gods,  and  associated  horrible  things  with  their  wor- 
ship. But  the  abuse  of  a  thing  is  no  argument 
against  the  existence  or  the  excellence  of  that 
which  is  abused  ;  it  is  an  argument  in  its  favor.  Men 
may  use  powder  for  good  pur})oses,  to  blast  rocks  and 
promote  civilization,  or  they  may  abuse  it  in  wound- 
ing the  innocent,  but  they  must  iirst  have  the  powder. 
Men  may  abuse  the  belief  in  a  present  overruling 
Providence,  but  the  belief  must  exist  before  it  can  be 
abused.  AVhence  came  it?  Answer  me  this  !  Nay, 
you  can  not  answer  it  without  admitting  the  power 
of  God  in  it;  and  you,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
are  loth  to  admit  the  truth,  that  ^Nebuchadnezzar 
-found  out  in  his  hour  of  sorrow,  that  God  doeth  ac- 
cording to  his  will,  in  the  army  of  heaven  and  among 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  27 

the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and  wliich  Darius  also 
affirms :  "  He  is  the  living  God  ;  He  delivereth  and 
rescueth,  and  He  maketh  signs  in  heaven  and  in 
earth — wlio  hath  delivered  Daniel  from  the  power  of 
the  lions." 

Passing  from  this  presumptive  argument,  let  us  see 
what  is  the  testimon}^  of  the  system  of  the  universe  on 
this  point.  I  say  the  system  of  the  universe,  not  the 
system  of  nature  or  matter,  for  this  is  no  system,  it  is 
only  the  fragment  of  a  system,  an  inchoate,  chaotic, 
imperfect  parcel  of  the  true  system  of  the  universe,  in 
which  God  sits  as  the  central  power,  and  in  wliom 
alone  it  is  complete.  This  system  is  a  series  of  ascend- 
ing existences,  the  higher  existence  in  each  case  being 
invested  with  new  powers  that  overrule  and  sometimes 
supersede  those  of  the  lower ;  while  God  causes,  sus- 
tains, and  by  His  immediate  influence  overrules  and 
perfects  the  whole. 

In  descril)ing  this  system  we  begin  with  mere  mat- 
ter— naked,  inorganic,  like  a  grain  of  sand.  The 
chief  forces  or  tendencies  belonging  to  it  are  gravity, 
which  makes  every  particle  tend  to  the  center  of  the 
largest  mass  and  momentum,  or  the  tendency  when 
at  rest  to  continue  so,  or  when  moved  from  without 
to  continue  in  motion.  I^ow  we  find  that  on  this 
dead  mass  there  are  certain  agencies  acting  which 
more  or  less  counteract  or  override  these  laws  of  mo- 
mentum and  gravity.  Take  a  drop  of  water — left  in 
a  certain  state  it  would  remain  forever  the  same.  But 
change  the  conditions  around  it,  withdraw  the  heat 
that  is  in  it,  and  it  forms  itself  into  solid  crystals ;  or, 
place  it  in  a  dr}-  atmosphere  and  it  flies  oil'  in  vapor. 
Its  apparent  nature   and  form  are  wholly  changed. 


28  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

And  thus,  in  this  lowest  part  of  the  system,  nature 
works  against  nature,  and  one  law  is  superseded  by 
another. 

Ascend  a  little  to  another  existence  of  the  series. 
Here  is  an  acorn.  It  is  apparently  nothing  but  organ- 
ized matter.  Put  it  in  the  ground.  Presently  it 
swells ;  it  grows;  it  rises  above  the  ground ;  it  takes  to 
itself  the  sun,  the  air,  the  moisture,  the  particles  it  needs 
from  the  ground;  it  forms  roots  under  ground;  it 
forms  branches  and  leaves  above  it;  month  after 
month,  year  after  year,  for  hundreds  of  years,  it  lifts 
itself  into  the  air,  it  holds  ton  upon  ton  of  solid  mat- 
ter scores  of  feet  above  the  ground,  and  spreads  its 
branches  over  half  an  acre.  The  law  of  gravity  tries 
to  pull  it  down  ;  it  fails.  The  winds  try  to  upset  it ; 
they  fail.  In  direct  violation  of  the  primary  law  of 
matter,  it  pushes  away  from  the  centre  of  the  earth. 
It  overrides,  supersedes,  nullifies,  violates  one  of  the 
most  universal  of  natural  laws,  and  in  its  majesty  lift- 
ing its  trunk  to  heaven  proclaims  to  all  that  nature's 
laws  are  not  inviolate.  But,  says  the  materialist,  this 
is  the  result  of  the  laws  of  nature.  Then  we  must 
admit  that  one  law  of  nature  may  violate  or  super- 
sede another.  But  I  deny  that  nature  is  the  same  in 
both  cases.  Why  does  the  tree  grow?  He  says,  in 
consequence  of  certain  chemical  or  natural  laws.  I 
deny  this,  and  atfirm  that  there  is  here  a  new  order  of 
existence  which  has  life,  and  it  is  this  life  that  is  the 
real  cause.  This  higher  existence  overrides  and  ap- 
propriates or  disregards  the  laws  of  nature.  Crush  the 
acorn,  will  it  grow?  Why  not?  Because  its  life  is 
destroyed.  Kill  the  tree  ;  at  once  leaves,  branches, 
and  finally  trunk  yield  to  the  law  of  gravitation  and 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  29 

fall.  What  is  this  life?  Can  you  see  it?  Can  you 
detect  it  by  chemical  analysis  ?  If  it  is  some  inherent 
force  of  nature,  chemists  may  get  hold  of  it,  may  pro- 
duce it.  They  are  all  as  blind,  as  helpless  as  the  child 
you  hold  on  your  knee.  It  is  life,  a  new  existence  in- 
vested with  power  above  naked  matter  to  overrule 
some  of  the  laws  of  nature.  Talk  about  nature  pro- 
ducing, originally  from  its  own  bosom,  the  infinite 
forms  of  vegetable  life  and  beauty  that  lill  the  world  ! 
Why,  you  might  as  well  talk  of  the  law  of  gravity  as 
sufficient  to  fire  a  cannon  ball  against  its  own  proper 
nature  to  the  moon.  God  is  love  ;  he  created  every 
seed,  and  gave  it  power  to  assimilate  or  counteract 
nature,  according  to  the  w^ants  of  its  new  life.  As- 
cend to  another  existence  in  the  series.  Take  animal 
life,  instinctive,  invested  with  powers  above  dead  mat- 
ter, above  the  tree  and  flower.  The  horse,  how  he 
balances  himself  and  leaps  against  the  force  of  grav- 
ity ;  how  he  runs  and  stops  against  the  law  of  mo- 
mentum; how  he  hears  your  voice  and  tames  himself 
to  your  will.  Here  is  a  new  kind  of  life ;  not  forces 
of  nature;  not  chemical  laws;  but  life  self-poised,  and 
maintaining  itself  against  some  of  these  very  laws; 
life,  not  self-originated,  not  born  of  nature,  but  life 
created  originally  by  God  himself. 

And  now  we  must  make  another  ascent.  Man  ap- 
pears. A  new  life  beams  high  above  the  others; 
Moses  says  he  is  made  in  the  image  of  God.  Look  at 
him.  You  see  that  rational  soul  that  takes  in  all  ideas  : 
time,  space,  spirit,  systems  of  things,  God  himself;  that 
moral  nature  that  realizes  obligation  and  knows 
what  rectitude  and  holiness  and  divine  love  are;  that 
causative  will  that  originates,  moves,  acts  in  his  own 


30  SERMONS   ON    THE 

personality  ;  that  turns  his  powers  hither  and  thither 
on  matter,  on  mind ;  that  articulate  man,  speaking 
over  centuries,  hearing  over  ages ;  that  inventive 
man,  combining  new  forces  out  of  old  ones ;  that 
dominating  soul,  changing  the  face  of  nature,  subject- 
ing the  brutes  and  all  life  and  all  dead  matter  to  do 
his  bidding  ;  that  far-seeing  spirit,  looking  into  and 
anticipating  the  future.  Here  is  a  new  life.  Natural 
powders  are  the  instruments  with  which  mind  works 
out  its  grand  results.  These  he  violates,  supersedes, 
sets  one  against  another,  combines  as  he  thinks  best. 
Surely  this  being,  in  his  noble  personality,  is  a  faint 
image  of  the  personal  God.  Here  is  a  new  power, 
which  is  not  nature,  but  which  takes  nature  and  uses 
it  to  advance  high  interests.  Talk  about  the  inviola- 
bility of  the  laws  of  nature !  Why,  every  house 
he  builds,  every  steam  engine  he  constructs,  every 
movement  of  his  arm  is  a  violation  of  some  law  of 
nature.  While  the  whole  science  of  medicine  is  just 
the  efibrt  to  counterwork  and  neutralize  one  law  of  na- 
ture by  another.  Every  steamship  that,  against  the 
wind,  against  the  tide,  carries  its  precious  freight 
above  the  waves  is,  in  some  respects,  a  violation  of 
nature.  In  this  realm  of  the  rational  and  the  spirit- 
ual, God  invests  this  living  soul  with  powers  superior 
to  nature — supernatural  in  some  respects.  The  faint 
image  of  God,  he  exercises  power  in  a  low  degree  like 
God  :  the  power  of  thought,  of  will,  of  action  ;  thrust 
in  among  these  powers  of  nature,  he  asserts  a  quali- 
fied supremacy  over  them,  and  moves  in  a  sphere,  in 
some  respects,  far  above  them. 

Have  we  now  reached  the  crown  of  the  system  of 
the  universe  ?    Is  man  the  highest  point  in  it?    So  say 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  31 

the  atheist,  tlio  pantheist.  But  not  so  says  tlie  Chris- 
tian. The  system,  as  yet,  is  no  system ;  it  is  incom- 
plete ;  it  has  beginnings,  but  no  endings  ;  justice  and 
injustice;  sin  and  holiness;  light  and  darkness;  ideas, 
thoughts,  emotions  that  anticipate  another  sphere,  but 
do  not  reach  it,  all  mingled  together  in  chaos  and 
confusion.  The  building  is  only  half  erected.  The 
relation  of  the  soul  to  God  and  the  object  of  its  exist- 
ence are  undctined  and  unreached.  The  courses  of 
things  are  out  of  joint.  They  shock  the  noblest  and 
best  feelings  of  our  higher  nature.  Tiie  world  groans 
and  travails  in  pain  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons 
of  God.  There  is,  there  must  be  another  and  a  still 
higher  sphere  of  existence,  where  wrong  shall  be 
righted ;  where  the  good  and  the  evil  shall  be  sepa- 
rated ;  where  retribution  shall  complete  its  work ;  where 
the  soul  shall  realize  its  chosen  destiny,  where  the 
divine  government  shall  be  vindicated  alike  in  its  love 
and  its  wrath  ;  wiiere,  out  of  all  these  confusions,  crimes 
sorrows,  perversions  of  time,  God  shall  bring  forth 
order,  and  harmonize  all  parts  of  his  government,  and 
show  the  inlinite  wisdom  that  has  ever  guided  him. 
In  this  higher  sphere  there  arc  already  superior  beings. 
This  has  its  own  laws,  and  from  it  influences  come 
down  into  this  lower  sphere,  superior  to  nature,  aiding 
the  good,  opening  truth  to  the  ignorant,  working  all 
through  the  mass  of  humanity.  Here  Christ  reigns, 
and  from  this  as  his  throne  he  is  at  work  building 
up  his  kingdom  here,  according  to  his  own  wisdom, 
and  preparing  for  a  final  demonstration  that  will  show 
that  God's  moral  government  is  as  perfect  and  finished 
as  any  of  the  most  exquisite  works  of  his  hand  in  the 
material  world. 


32  SERMONS   ON    THE 

Now  let  us  gather  up  the  elements  of  this  argument. 
In  the  system  which  God  has  made,  we  see  him  first 
creating  dead  matter  and  giving  it  certain  laws.  Then 
"we  see  him  creating  life  ;  vegetable  life,  \vith  powers 
superior  to   dead    matter,  and    able   to   overcome  its 
laws.     Next  he  creates  brute  life,  superior  to  all  the 
rest.     Then  he  places  man  upon  the  earth,  and  gives 
him  poAvers  over  all  other  kinds  of  matter  and  life ; 
power  to  combine  and  use  and  counteract  the  forces  of 
nature.     Then  we  ascend  to  the  higher  sphere  of  fu- 
ture existence,  from  which  influences  descend  superior 
to   all   those   at    such    line — supernatural   influences, 
mighty  to  suspend  or  quicken  the  laws  of  mere  na- 
ture and  much  in  harmony  with  the    higher  nature 
of  man.     Now  I  say  that,  by  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
by  the  inexorable  laws  of  logic,  by  the  necessary  infer- 
ences warranted  by  man's  constitution  and  the  state  of 
the  divine  government  here,  it  must  be  that  God  is  per- 
petually controlling,  overruling  all  parts  of  his  creation 
so  as  to  accomplish  his  purposes  in  respect  to  man ; 
that  he  is  not  only  able,  but  that  it  is    a   necessary 
part  of  his  complete  system  to  supplement  the  laws 
and   influences    of    the   lower   by    the   laws    and  in- 
fluences of  a  higher  sphere  of  action,  and  that  in  all 
this  he  is  acting  in  harmony  with  his  own  method  as 
we  see  it  revealed  in  nature  around  us.     From  this 
higher  sphere  above  us  God  must  be  perpetually  at 
work  through  mightier  powers  in  governing,  control- 
ling all  things,  so  as  to  vindicate  at  last   his  inflnite 
wisdom.     And   instead   of  supposing  that   God   had 
finished  his  work  in  creation  and  in  man,  Ave  are  driven 
by  the  sternest  facts   to   the   opinion  that  he  is  ever 
working  in  man  and  around  him,  by  means  natural 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  33 

and    supernatural,    in    preparing    him    for    another 
sphere  of  being,  in  wliich  his  system  shall  find  its  per- 
fection and  his  attributes  shall  appear  illustrated  most 
gloriously  to  the  highest  intelligences  of  the  universe. 
Let  us  now  consider  some  of  the  facts  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  earth  itself,  which  proves  that  God  has 
put  forth  upon  it  special  supernatural  powers.     The 
first  fact  is  creation  itself.     The  second  is  that,  subse- 
quent to  the  creation,  in  the  process  of  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  abode  of  man,  changes  have  taken  place 
which  necessitate  the  direct  interference  of  the  crea- 
tor— changes  for  which  no  natural  laws  can  possibly  ac- 
count. These  changes  are  written  in  tlie  structure  of  the 
earth  itself.     And  here  permit  me  to  say  that  I  greatly 
honor  those  men  who  for  the  last  forty  years  have  been 
engaged  in  investigating  the  facts  connected  with  the 
structure  and  constitution  of  the  earth  in  which  we  live. 
Geology  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  And  it  is  not  at  all  strange 
that  some  of  the  explorers  in  this  new  field  should 
reach  conclusions  which  a  broader  induction  from  a 
larger  mass  of  facts  would  not  warrant.     Like  every 
other  science,  it  builds  and  then  pulls  down  in  order  to 
erect  a  more  substantial   structure.     In  reference  to 
this,  as  to  every  other  science,  Christianity  has  only 
to  abide  the  results  of  time  and  patient  research  in  in- 
dicating the  essential  harmony  between  creation  and 
revelation.     Long  before  geology  began  its  investiga- 
tions, some  of    the   ablest  interpreters  of  the  Bible 
were  of  the  opinion  that  long  periods  intervened  be- 
tween the  creation  as  described  in  the  first  verse  of 
Genesis  and  the    subsequent  formation  of  the  earth, 
and  the  final  fitting  it  up  for  man  in  the  six  days. 
There  is  one  class  of  men,  however,  for  whose  hearts. 


34  SERMONS    ON    THE 

to  say  nothing  of  their  understanding,  we  have  no 
sort  of  respect ;  men  who,  when  a  fact  of  natural  sci- 
ence seems  to  militate  against  the  Bible,  are  loud  in 
the  demonstrations  of  their  infidelity,  like  the  croak- 
ing of  frogs  on  a  warm  spring  night;  but  when  a  fact 
makes  in  favor  of  the  truth  of  revelation,  are  as  silent 
as  those  frogs  when  the  sun  rises.  But  to  the  point 
before  us.  Geologists  almost  unanimously  affirm  that 
the  earth  has  undergone  vast  changes — changes  that 
preceded  the  present  creation  and  form  of  things  around 
us.  During  some  of  these  periods  there  was  an  im- 
mense vitality  of  both  the  animal  and  the  vegetable. 
Then,  again,  there  are  great  cataclysms,  breaks  in 
the  order  of  things,  in  which  all  animal  and  vegetable 
life  perished.  There  are  periods  of  heat  when  they 
could  not  exist,  and  then  of  cold,  when  the  earth,  or 
large  parts  of  it,  were  covered  with  ice  and  snow. 
!Novv,  the  point  reached  by  these  facts  is  this  :  That 
all  the  life  we  now  see  on  the  earth  must  have  been 
produced  by  a  direct  act  of  divine  power.  Immense 
remains  there  are  of  old  species  that  died  in  these 
changes,  but  they  are  totally  distinct  from  anything 
we  now  see  on  the  earth.  There  are  no  transmuta- 
tions from  them  to  our  present  creation,  but  a  dead 
blank,  necessitati)ig  the  divine  interference  to  produce 
that  which  is  now.  All  the  powers  of  natural  phil- 
osophy could  not  give  us  the  simplest  shrub.  Now,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  the  earth  itself,  God  has 
been  at  work  by  his  direct,  intelligent,  personal,  su- 
pernatural power  preparing  the  earth  for  its  present 
inhabitants,  and  then,  when  the  time  came,  when  the 
earth  was  left  after  all  these  changes  without  power 
and  void  of  all  life,  his  divine  spirit  went  forth,  as 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  35 

Moses  has  described  it,  and  gave  forth  life  in  all  its  forms, 
and  man  as  the  lord  of  the  world.  Where  now  is  the  ar- 
gument against  miracles  ?  To  the  celestial  visitants  who 
watch  the  formation  of  the  earth,  what  a  glorious  series 
of  miracles  was  there  all  over  this  earth  !  Spinoza  said 
that  if  you  could  prove  to  him  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  he  would  break  his  system  to  pieces.  Well,  here 
is  the  earth  itself  demonstrating  any  quantity  of  crea- 
tions. Here  is  God  himself,  instead  of  leaving  the 
world  to  develop  itself,  by  certain  natural  laws,  thrust- 
ing his  almighty  hand  right  down  into  them,  arrest- 
ing their  operations,  changing  all  things,  and  giving 
a  new  life  to  the  world.  Where  is  pantheism  now  ? 
1^0  consistent  deist,  admitting  the  existence  of  a  per- 
sonal God  and  creation,  can  deny  the  probability  of  a 
direct  supernatural  agency  in  the  world  wherever 
there  may  be  a  necessity  for  it.  Such  men  as  Theodore 
Parker,  half  pantheist,  half  deist,  now  believing  in 
mere  natural  development,  and  then,  forced  by  his 
higher  nature  to  go  to  God  in  prayer,  and  thus  re- 
cognize a  direct  divine  influence  upon  the  world,  are 
simply  illogical  and  inconsistent.  The  true,  consist- 
ent deist  at  once  adriiits  these  things,  and  only  asks 
for  a  necessity  for  divine  interference  and  [)roper 
proof  of  the  fact.  Now,  if  God  did  thus  interfere  in 
the  preparation  of  the  material  world  for  man,  the  in- 
ference is  irresistible  that,  in  this  higher  sphere  of 
training  man  for  eternity,  he  will  interfere  just  as 
often  and  as  constantly  as  the  necessity  of  the  case  re- 
quires. He  is  shown  to  be  a  providential  ruler  over 
the  world,  working  all  after  the  counsel  of  his  will, 
maintaining  his  government,  natural  and  moral,  over 
the  world  and  man,  and  carrying  forward  his  own 


36  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

plan  to  its  grand  conclusion.  You  may  pray  to  God, 
for  he  is  not  deaf  nor  afar  off',  nor  unconcerned,  but 
ever  near  thee,  0  man  ;  he  is  administering  his  gov- 
ernment over  thee,  and  his  power  is  with  all  nature 
and  in  thy  own  soul. 

I  state  as  another  argument  for  a  supernatural  in- 
fluence the  actual  necessities  and  wants  of  man.  It 
has  been  contended  with  great  force  that  man,  with- 
out the  supernatural  communication  of  certain  orig- 
inal truths  and  knowledge,  could  not  have  continued 
to  exist  on  the  earth  ;  and  Dr.  Livingstone,  from  his 
observations  in  Southern  Africa,  affirms  the  same 
truth.  (1.)  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that, 
left  to  himself  in  a  mere  state  of  nature,  man,  with- 
out a  supernatural  revelation  of  some  kind,  never 
could  develope  his  intellect  or  rise  from  the  lowest 
state  of  barbarism.  In  point  of  fact  all  the  great  de- 
velopments of  the  race  have  taken  place  under  the  in- 
spiration of  religious  ideas  and  a  knowledge  originally 
communicated  supernaturally.  And  the  moment  the 
supernatural  ceased  to  influence  them  they  have 
degenerated  both  intellectually  and  morally. 

(2.)  Man  needs  in  this  world  the  influence  of  a  su- 
pernatural government  in  order  to  keep  him  from 
utter  self-destruction  and  enable  him  to  live  as  a 
member  of  civilized  society.  Government  of  some 
kind  is  essential.  What  is  the  state  ?  It  is  not  a 
government  of  mere  nature.  Men  are  not  left  to 
do  as  they  please,  to  suffer  or  enjoy  solely  as  they 
shall  keep  or  violate  natural  laws.  The  state  comes  in 
and  rules  supernaturally,  outside  of  and  above  nature, 
makes  its  laws  and  affixes  its  penalty.  And  all  ex- 
perience shows  that  there  is  and  can  be  no  civilization 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  37 

■without  this.  Yea,  more  than  this  is  true.  It  is 
fouud  that  state  goverumeut  and  well-ordered  society 
can  not  exist  without  the  divine  sanctions  of  a  super- 
natural government  that  shall  reach  the  consciences 
and  hearts  of  men.  Warhurton  has  shown  by  a  vast 
array  of  evidence  that  all  successful  governments  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world  have  been  built  upon  and 
maintained  by  the  aid  of  a  divine,  moral  government, 
ruling  and  influencing  man  supernaturally,  and  that  as 
soon  as  faith  in  such  a  spiritual  and  mighty  governor 
ceases  to  exist,  then  civilization  and  order  cease,  and 
brute  passions  rule. 

(3.)  Man  needs,  more  than  all,  special  light  on  his 
future  destiny.  He  naturally  desires  to  know  whether 
he  is  to  die  like  the  brutes,  or  exist  hereafter.  This 
is  an  awfully  momentous  question.  Nature  is  silent 
concerning  it.  God  alone  can  directly  answer  it. 
He  desires  to  know  how,  as  a  sinner,  he  can  be  justified 
and  saved.  ]^ature  is  silent.  God  only  by  supernat- 
urally inspiring  men  can  reveal  the  answer,  and  then, 
he  must  by  miracles  attest  the  authority  of  the  prophet 
who  declares  to  us  the  truth.  And  thus,  without  at- 
tempting to  exhaust  this  subject  or  present  it  fully, 
it  will  be  found  that  man's  highest  welfare  in  this 
life  demands  that  he  shall  be  aided  by  a  present,  su- 
pernatural government,  and  that  all  his  nature  cries 
out  for  a  present,  ruling,  speaking  God.  I  con- 
dense into  a  few  lines  here  thoughts  that  demand  vol- 
umes fully  to  unfold  them.  Man,  society,  civilization, 
eternity,  demand,  authorize,  necessitate  a  living,  per- 
sonal God,  ruling  and  exerting  his  divine  power  con- 
stantly in  this  world. 

I  now  ask  your  attention  to  the  Bible  itself  as  an  ar- 


38  SERMONS   ON    THE 

gument  for  the  supernatural.  In  doing  this,  I  do  not 
beg  the  principle  at  issue.  For  here  is  confessedly 
the  most  wonderful  book  in  the  world.  Look  at  it  in 
what  light  you  please — the  age  when  it  was  written, 
its  actual  contents,  its  position  and  character  in  com- 
parison with  all  other  books,  sacred  or  profane.  There 
is  nothing  like  it,  nothing  to  be  compared  with  it, 
any  more  than  you  compare  the  moon  with  the  sun. 
Its  statements  of  facts  that  only  God  could  have  re- 
vealed ;  its  prophecies ;  its  clear  inculcation  of  the 
divine  law,  the  only  true  basis  of  morality  and  relig- 
ion ;  its  sublime  revelations  of  the  divine  character  in 
its  unity,  its  justice,  and  its  love;  the  relations  of 
man  to  God,  and  the  way  of  pardon  and  life  hereafter 
set  forth  in  such  varied  lights  ;  the  holy  breathings  of 
its  psalms ;  its  blessed  promises  of  hope  and  assistance 
to  men  in  their  attempts  to  serve  God,  and  in  their 
sorrow  and  care  ;  its  own  wonderful  consistency  and 
unity,  though  uttered  by  different  voices  through  two 
thousand  years ;  yea,  all  its  sublime  lessons,  covering 
the  life  of  every  man  here,  and  opening  to  him  the 
gates  of  a  glorious  heaven  hereafter ;  these  set  it 
above  all  other  books  ;  these  show  it  to  be  divine. 
All  through  this  book,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  a 
personal,  ruling  God,  doing  supernatural  works,  rest- 
ing upon  some  supernatural  inHuence,  promising  su- 
pernatural assistance,  throbs  and  glows.  Eliminate 
from  it  all  that  is  above  nature,  all  that  is  directly  di- 
vine, and  you  have  nothing  left;  you  have  blotted  the 
most  wonderful  of  books  out  of  existence.  To  sup- 
pose that  such  a  book  is  the  product  of  merely  natu- 
ral impulses  is  too  absurd  for  refutation.  It  is  prac- 
tically assigning  to  it  no  cause  at  all.     It  is  just  as 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST,  39- 

goocl  logic  as  that  which  makes  this  great  universe 
the  product  of  chance  or  natural  law. 

Nor  have  we  the  book  alone;  we  have  one  nation 
with  all  its  institntions  as  its  partial  exponent  and 
monument.  The  Jewish  nation,  in  its  history  and 
marked  character,  as  it  existed  in  Palestine,  is  the 
direct  product  of  this  book.  The  existence  and  char- 
acter of  this  nation  is  an  unsolved  and  unsolvable 
enigma  on  any  other  supposition  than  the  truthful- 
ness of  this  book.  There  is  no  other  possible  reason 
why  the  Jews  ditfered  so  totally  from  all  the  rest  of 
the  world  in  their  grand  religious  ideas  and  institu- 
tions save  this  one,  that  God  spoke  to  them  and 
wrought  among  them  supernaturally.  As  surely  as 
every  event  infers  an  adequate  cause,  so  surely  does 
this  book  and  this  nature  unitedly  infer  a  present  God 
supernaturally  inspiring  His  people,  etc.,  working  Ilis 
miracles,  guiding  their  great  leaders,  fixing  their  re- 
ligious constitution,  and  using  them  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  grandest  manifestation  of  Himself  in  his 
incarnate  Soji. 

And  now  we  have  reached  the  crowning  fact  in  the 
supernatural  government  of  God  over  our  race — the 
Incarnation.  Xo  consistent  deist  will  deny  the  possi- 
bility of  this  event.  We  will  only  ask,  tirst,  for  an 
object  worthy  of  such  a  union  of  the  divine  and  hu- 
man, and,  second,  for  a  suitable  attestation  of  the  fact. 
And  that  which  he  asks  for  Ave  have.  The  object  of 
the  incarnation  is  :  (1.)  To  exhibit  a  perfect  humanity 
in  its  obedience  to  the  divine  law  ;  (2.)  By  an  actual 
sacrifice  on  the  cross  to  answer  the  question  how  God 
can  be  just  and  yet  justify  the  believer;  and  (3.)  To 
constitute  a  living  Redeemer,  who,  as  the  head  of  the 


40  SERMONS   ON    THE 

church,  should  from  himself  carry  forward  a  system 
of  influences  through  which  man  should  be  brought 
into  union  with  God  and  prepared  for  an  immortal 
life.  These  are  the  grand  objects  of  the  incarnation, 
wide  as  the  race,  vast  as  the  soul  of  man.  Whoever 
admits  these  objects  as  necessary  and  legitimate  jus- 
tifies the  incarnation.  "Whoever  denies  them  has  in 
his  hands  a  task  that  as  yet  no  man  or  body  of  men 
since  the  creation  has  been  able  to  perform — the  task 
of  showing  how  without  such  an  incarnation  these 
vital  objects  can  possibly  be  accomplished.  Millions 
on  millions  have  accepted  them  in  accepting  Jesus  as 
the  Savior  of  man.  Man's  heart  everywhere  longs 
for  just  such  a  living,  divine  Redeemer.  He  meets  the 
deepest,  highest  wants  of  the  soul  here  and  in  the  life 
to  come. 

2.  The  attestation  of  this  event.  Originally  it  could 
be  known  only  to  those  at  first  most  interested  in  it. 
But  here  how  beautiful,  how  chaste,  how  sublime,  is 
the  annunciation  to  Mary.  How  unlike  anything  else 
in  history!  How  befitting  the  great  event!  How 
impossible  that  it  could  be  imagined  or  invented! 
Then  how  the  life,  the  character,  the  works  of  Christ 
attest  it!  This  being,  superior  to  humanity,  yet  con- 
centrating,in  himself  all  the  noblest  traits  of  human- 
ity, standing  out  from  the  ages  immeasurably  above 
all  their  highest  minds,  radiating  from  himself  light 
on  all  the  highest  questions  the  soul  asks;  sending  out 
influences  that  renew  the  heart,  enlighten,  purify,  save 
it;  gathering  round  his  cross  myriads  who  in  joy  and 
hope  trust  him  and  follow  him  in  the  paths  of  love 
and  obedience,  and  would  lay  down  their  lives  for 
him  ;  establishing  a  spiritual  kingdom  that  triumphs 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  41 

over  superstition  and  sin,  and  brings  salvation  to 
the  lost — a  kingdom  which,  as  it  advances  in  tliis  dark 
world,  everywhere  renews  it  and  turns  its  vile  deserts, 
its  corrupt  Sodoms,  into  Sharon  vales  and  temples  of 
the  most  High.  This  is  the  attestation  of  the  incar- 
nation. Miracles  there  were  indeed  at  its  opening, 
but  the  mightiest  miracle  of  all  is  the  manifold  super- 
natural power  that  everywhere  attends'  its  progress, 
and  lifts  humanity  into  closer  union  and  likeness  to 
the  heavenly  Father.  Christianity  in  its  true  history 
attests  the  incarnation,  No  wonder  the  greatest 
minds,  as  they  contem[)late  Christ  in  his  wondrous  in- 
fluence, cry  out  with  the  Roman  soldier,  "Surel}^  this 
is  the  son  of  God."  'No  wonder  Napoleon  affirmed 
in  this  view,  "  Christ  is  divine." 

Oh  !  to-night  I  bear  the  glad  tidings  to  you,  the 
tidings  of  a  divine  Savior  for  your  souls.  Ask  na- 
ture, how  can  I  be  saved?  She  is  silent.  Ask  pro- 
fane history.  All  is  silence.  Ask  philosophy.  Silent 
still.  Ask  Jesus,  and  a  voice  comes  to  you  in  love  : 
"  I  bore  thy  sins  on  the  tree.  I  opened  the  gates  of 
heaven  for  you.  I  proclaimed  life  and  immortality. 
Believe  on  me." 


42  SEEMONS    ON    THE 


III. 


MARY,    THE    MOTHER    OF   JESUS. 

^^  And  the  iwgel  came  in  unto  her,  and  said,  Hail,  thou 
that  art  highly  favored,  the  Lord  is  with  thee;  blessed  art 
thou  among  women." — Luke  i,  28. 

It  is  remarkable  how  little  is  said  in  the  Scriptures 
of  many  of  the  most  eminent  saints.  They  are  never 
miagnified  and  lauded  as  men  eulogize  their  great  ones. 
Sometimes  their  biography  is  given  in  a  single  line. 
"  Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  Avas  not,  for  God  took 
him."  Occasional!}^  their  faith  is  commended  and  held 
up  for  imitation.  And  this  is  all.  One  Being  alone 
who  bore  our  nature  is  exalted;  one  alone  dwells  in 
the  radiance  of  glory  more  than  human — Jesus,  the 
incarnate  Son  of  the  Highest.  Mary  is  no  exception 
to  this  rule.  As  the  mother  from  whom  His  human 
nature  is  derived,  her  person  is  illumined  by  the  glory 
which  distinguishes  His  incarnation  ;  but  the  moment 
He  assumes  His  own  individuality  she  retires  into 
the  common  mass  of  the  faithful,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  three  or  four  brief  allusions,  is  heard  of  no 
more.  All  this  is  profoundly  instructive.  It  enables 
us  at  once  to  determine  her  position  and  relationship 
to  the  Church  of  God.  She  is  simply  a  faithful  be- 
liever, chosen  of  God  to  be  the  happy  mother  of  whom 
Christ  according  to  the  flesh  should  be  born,  and  un- 
der whose  influence  His  early  life  should  be  spent. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  43 

This  i)Osition,  the  most  exalted  ever  conferred  on 
■vvoimin,  is  hers.  But  to  the  churcli  she  sustains  no 
official  relation  ;  she  is  invested  with  no  special  power. 
Here  she  is  simply  a  believer ;  redeemed  by  the  same 
blood ;  subject  to  the  same  infirmities ;  exposed  to  the 
same  trials,  with  every  other  one  of  her  sex.  The  dogma 
of  her  immaculate  sinlessness  is  nowhere  so  much  as 
hinted  at  in  Scripture.  The  terms  "highly  favored" 
and  "  blessed,"  applied  to  her,  contain  no  such  impli- 
cation. Indeed,  they  are  used  elsewhere  in  Scripture 
in  reference  to  those  who  were  confessedly  sinful. 
The  argument  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  is  equally 
fallacious.  If  it  was  necessar}^  that  Mary  should  be 
sinless  in  order  that  Christ  might  be  sinless,  then  it 
would  be  neces?:ar3'  that  her  parents  should  be  sinless ; 
and  so  on,  ascending  through  the  entire  race.  There 
is  no  such  necessity.  Christ  is  to  be  possessed  of  our 
human  nature  in  all  its  heiglit  and  depth  of  passion, 
and  exposure  to  fierce  temptation,  to  sorrow,  and  to 
death.  One  thing  alone  distinguishes  that  nature 
from  all  the  other  sons  of  Adam,  and  that  is  the  spirit 
of  obedience  that  enabled  Him  to  be  tempted  in  all 
things  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  This,  divine  grace, 
working  above  and  beyond  the  ordinar}-  laws  of  gener- 
ation, accomplished  in  Ilim.  But  Mary  is  no  excep- 
tion to  the  race.  She  belonged  indeed  to  a  theocratic 
race.  A  long  line  of  pious  ancestors  exerted  over  her 
its  peculiar  elevating  power.  But  this  distinctiou  she 
enjoyed  in  common  with  Elizabeth,  and  Anna,  and 
many  others,  who  devoutly  waited  for  the  coming  of 
their  Lord.  Her  peculiar  distinction,  her  high  honor, 
her  crown  of  blessedness  among  Avomen,  is  not  what 
she  was  in  herself,  but  in  the  fact  that  from  her  pro- 


44  SERMONS   ON   THE 

ceecled  that  human  nature  in  which  the  divine  became 
incarnate  to  redeem  the  world.  In  common  with 
every  other  mother,  she  must  sit  at  His  feet,  he  puri- 
fied by  His  spirit,  and  be  ransomed  by  His  blood. 

Let  us  now  review  her  life  and  character  in  accord- 
ance with  the  brief  notices  given  us  in  this  book.  Of 
her  early  life,  in  distinction  from  others  of  her  class,  we 
know  absolutely  nothing.  The  silly  legends  framed  in 
after  centuries  are  not  worthy  of  a  moment's  attention. 
She  grew  up  at  Nazareth.  Her  culture  was  Jewish ;  her 
literature,  her  science,  her  religion,  were  all  contained 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  These  were  her  daily  study ; 
these  the  influence  that  pervaded,  purified,  exalted 
her  afi:ections.  The  clear  expositions  of  divine  law  ;  the 
holy  breathings  of  the  psalms,  the  sublime  utterances 
of  the  prophets,  the  origin,  history,  and  destiny  of  her 
race  so  brilliantly  illuminated  by  the  presence  and 
power  of  Jehovah,  molded  and  inspired  her  whole 
soul.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  natural  science  as  an 
educating  force,  it  is  weakness  beside  these  grand  spir- 
itual thoughts  and  sublime  truths  in  imparting  ele- 
vation, power,  self-reliance  to  a  human  soul.  Even 
when  received  only  in  the  intellect,  what  prodigious 
effects  they  have  wrought !  But  when  they  are  as- 
similated, and  the  heart  yields  itself  to  them,  then  they 
constitute  a  faith  Avhich  is  inspirative,  intelligent,  firm ; 
strength  almost  sublime.  Man  is  in  alliance  with  God, 
and  all  the  powers  of  this  world  and  eternity  are  liis 
possession.  These  truths  were  her  study  from  child- 
hood. She  yielded  herself  to  their  influence ;  faith 
in  God  and  in  his  promises  sprang  to  life  in  her  soul. 
In  common  with  her  nation,  the  prophecies  of  Mes- 
siah  were  her  faith.     In    common  with   the  female 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  45 

descendants  of  David,  she,  too,  may  have  cherished 
the  hope  of  being  his  mother.  In  the  full  maturity 
of  her  sweet  maidenhood  she  is  betrothed  to  her  kins- 
man Joseph.  The  truly  devout  Jews  spent  much  time 
in  secret  prayer  and  study  of  the  Bible.  In  many  of 
their  houses  there  was  a  special  place  set  apart  for  this 
object.  Mary,  doubtless,  was  much  in  prayer  and  in 
the  perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  i^or  is  it  unnatural  to 
suppose  that  it  was  at  such  an  hour  of  rapt  contempla- 
tion and  holy  communion  with  God  that  Gabriel  ap- 
peared to  her.  "  Hail !  highly  favored,  the  Lord  is 
with  thee;  blessed  among  women  art  thou."  The  ap- 
pearance of  the  angel,  his  words  so  remarkable,  sur- 
prise and  trouble  her.  She  fears  lest  this  gracious 
salutation  be  only  the  prelude  to  some  great  trial. 
Gabriel  reads  in  her  countenance  the  emotions  that 
agitate  her  breast;  he  assures  her  of  the  favor  of  God, 
and  then  announces  the  sublime  fact,  of  all  others  the 
most  desired  by  every  female  of  the  house  of  David, 
that  she  is  elected  to  be  the  mother  of  Messiah.  But 
she  is  unmarried;  the  thought  of  pollution  is  intoler- 
able ;  she  can  not  rise  at  once  above  the  idea  of  natu- 
ral law  to  the  mysterious  inworking  power  of  Him 
who  created  nature;  and,  in  her  perplexity  and  maiden 
innocence,  she  asks,  how  ?  how  shall  this  be  ?  Nothing 
can  be  more  natural,  nothing  more  guileless,  nothing 
more  significant  of  her  virgin  purity !  The  question 
is  answered.  Lifting  her  soul  out  of  the  sphere  of  the 
natural  into  the  higher  realm  of  the  spiritual,  Avhere 
God  works  according  to  laws  that  prevail  among 
nobler  beings,  Gabriel  says,  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall 
come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall 
overshadow  thee  ;  therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which 


46  SERMONS   ON    THE 

shall  be  born  of  thee,  shall  be  called  the  Sou  of  God." 
"  With  God  nothing  is  impossible."  And  as  a  sign 
and  evidence  to  assure  her  faith,  he  informs  her  that 
her  cousin  Elizabeth  in  her  old  age  is  about  to  bear  a 
son.  She  hears,  she  believes,  she  submits;  "Behold 
the  handmaid  of  the  Lord;  be  it  unto  me  according 
to  thy  word!"  The  event,  so  grand  in  itself,  jxt  so 
strange,  so  unexpected  in  its  accomplishment,  accord- 
ing to  all  human  calculations,  must  cover  her  future 
w^ith  darkness.  Repudiation  by  her  betrothed ;  dis- 
grace the  most  agonizing  to  her  pure  spirit,  and 
death  according  to  human  law,  awaited  her.  How 
shall  she  vindicate  her  innocence  ?  Who  will  believe 
her  simple  story?  Then  the  faith  which  animated 
her  father_ Abraham  when  he  laid  Isaac  upon  the  altar, 
the  faith  which  made  Daniel  mightier  than  the  lions, 
lifted  her  above  this  horrible  darkness,  these  appalling 
anticipations,  into  the  serene  light  of  God's  presence. 
The  Lord  will  in  his  time  vindicate  his  own  work ; 
calmly  she  will  trust,  unreservedly  she  will  commit 
herself  to  Him.  "Be  it  unto  me  according  to  thy 
word!"  And  so  here,  and  elsewhere  in  this  divine 
book,  but  nowhere  else  on  earth,  we  find  ourselves 
among  those  exalted  souls,  who,  though  compassed 
about  with  human  infirmities,  heard  the  voice  of  a 
present  God,  and,  grasping  his  promises  by  a  living 
faith,  trod  upon  the  world  with  all  its  attractions  and 
its  terrors. 

Let  us  pause  a  moment  and  look  upon  this  scene. 
The  grandest  event  in  history  is  described  in  language 
the  most  remarkable  ever  recorded  by  mortal  hands. 
The  words  of  Mary,  how  artless  !  how  truthful!  how 
befitting   her  circumstances !  how   expressive   of  her 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  47 

character!  how  brief  and  simple!  The  language  of 
Gabriel,  how  beautiful !  how  supernatural !  how  sub- 
lime !  how  it  lifts  the  soul  above  the  gross  and  the 
sensual  into  the  serene  presence  of  God  !  how  like  a 
transparent  robe  of  light  it  reveals  while  it  adorns  the 
majesty  of  the  Highest !  How  could  the  incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God  be  announced  to  us  in  terms  more 
justly  expressive  of  the  simple  grandeur  of  his  nature, 
or  the  unspeakable  importance  of  his  mission  T  Bring 
hither  to-day  the  most  remarkable  classics  of  the 
world,  select  from  them  the  brightest  jewels  that 
sparkle  in  the  crown  of  genius  ;  compared  Avith  this 
treasured  memory  of  a  Jewish  maiden  they  are  as  the 
composites  and  pastes  of  the  jeweler  to  the  Koh-i-noor, 
the  crown  jewel  of  the  world.  But  so  it  ever  is.  When 
God  speaks,  though  it  be  through  human  or  angelic 
lips,  the  voices  of  human  genius  sink  into  the  insig- 
nificant babblings  of  childhood;  they  are  as  the  ex- 
plosions of  man's  mightiest  gunnery  in  the  presence 
of  the  lightning  flashes  and  thunder-roll  of  the  artil- 
lery of  the  skies. 

The  divine  message  is  given  ;  the  human  response 
received  ;  Gabriel  departs.  Then  Mar}',  eager  to  see 
with  her  own  eyes  the  truth  of  the  sign  given  her  ; 
eager  to  communicate  to  Elizabeth  the  news  of  this 
wondrous  annunciation ;  eager  to  hold  communion 
with  her  on  these  themes,  the  loftiest  and  most  com- 
prehensive ever  made  known  to  man,  hurries  Avith  char- 
acteristic energy,  upborne  by  this  new  inspiration,  to 
the  hill  country  of  Judah,  south  of  Jerusalem,  and  to 
Jutta,  the  priestly  city,  where  Zachariah  dwelt.  It  is 
distant  from  iSTazareth,  directly  south,  a  journey  of 
three  or  four  days  as  men  traveled  it  then  and  now. 


48  SEKMONS   ON    THE 

She  enters  the  house  of  her  cousin,  but  ere  she  can 
open  her  lips,  her  message  is  anticipated.  In  a  sudden 
burst  of  inspiration,  Elizabeth  exclaims :  "  Blessed 
art  thou  among  women,  and  blessed  is  the  fruit  of  th}'' 
womb ! "  Mary  instantly  responds  in  that  hymn 
which,  from  that  day  to  this,  has  echoed  and  re-echoed 
in  all  the  oratories  and  temples  of  the  Christian  world : 
"  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  hatb 
rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour.  For  he  hath  regarded 
the  low  estate  of  his  hand-maiden ;  for  behold,  from, 
henceforth  all  generations  shall  call  me  blessed.  For 
He  that  is  mighty  hath  done  to  me  great  things ;  and 
holy  is  His  name.  And  His  mercy  is  on  them  that 
fear  Him,  from  generation  to  generation,"  etc.  This 
is  the  first  Christian  hymn,  called  the  magnificat,  from 
its  opening :  "  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord." 
Parts  of  it  are  found  in  the  Song  of  Hannah,  and 
in  other  Scriptures ;  for  Mary's  mind  was  filled  with 
the  sublime  thoughts  and  beautiful  imagery  of  the 
Old  Testament.  But  she  has  here  combined  them  in 
one  concrete  whole  —  pervaded  by  her  personality; 
illustrative  of  her  experience;  and  expressive  of  her 
sense  of  the  wonderful  goodness  of  God  to  her  and  to 
all  His  people,  Israel,  in  the  anticipated  coming  of  the 
great  Messiah.  What  lofty  faith ;  what  heavenly 
love ;  what  visions  of  mercy  flashing  back  to  Abra- 
ham and  the  promise,  and  forward  to  the  oncoming 
generations  of  lowly  believers,  does  it  reveal  to  us ! 
So  pure,  so  spiritual,  so  expressive  of  her  experience, 
yet  so  in  sympathy  with  the  heart  of  Christianity,  that 
it  has  fired  and  exalted  the  souls  of  the  faithful  in 
every  age.  This  sweet  hymn  breaks  upon  us  as  a 
choral  from  the  heart  of  universal   love  and  faith. 


LIFE     OF   CHRIST.  49 

Here  these  devout  kinswomen,  elected  to  be  the  moth- 
ers of  Messiah  and    his  forerunner,  dwelt   together, 
communing  on  sacred  themes,  and  studying  those  pre- 
cious prophecies  and  promises  which  through  them 
were  to  attain  their  fultillment.     How  iittins:  and  how 
beautiful  that  these  two  lives  should,  just  at  this  time, 
run  together  and  mingle  their  thoughts,  their  prayers, 
their  aspirations,  in  anticipation  of  these  great  events. 
At  length  months  have  passed,  and  Mary  returns  to 
Nazareth  —  returns    strengthened    and    refreshed    in 
spirit  to  take  up  her  cross  and  encounter  the  fearful 
trial  which  might  be  in  store  for  her.     Yet  hear  how 
her  present  Lord  gently  lifts  up  the  cross,  and  the  fear 
and  tlie  terror  vanishes  from  her  heart.     Instead  of 
repudiation,  disgrace,  a  public  trial,  perhaps  death^ 
there  is  only  love  and  sacred  marriage.     Joseph,  in- 
structed from  on  high,  turns  from  his  natural  purpose, 
and  takes  her  joyfully  to  his  home  and  his  heart.    Oh  ! 
thus,  in  instances  without  number,  when  the  cross  we 
must  bear  looked  so  heavy,  and  the  lions  we  must  face 
seemed  so  ferocious,  has  faith  triumphed !     The  dear 
Lord  has  made  the  cross  lighter  than  a  feather;  the 
lions  became  Iambs.     Another  sacrifice  has  been  sub- 
stituted in  place  of  the  beloved  Isaac;  and,  instead  of 
sorrow  and  tears,  the  heart  has  been  filled  with  glad- 
ness, and  the  lips  have  been  opened  in  songs  of  praise. 
Christian,  when  the  future  seeniB  darkest,  and  thou 
seest  no  hope,  no  brightness  emanating  from  earth, 
fear  not !     Above  the  clouds  shines  serenely  the  un- 
changing sun,  and  in  an   instant  through  the  rift  his 
beams  may  fill  thy  heart  with  light  ! 

Mary  now  appears  at  Bethlehem,  and  Christ  is  born. 

r 
O 


50  SEHMONS    ON    THE 

Amidst  all  the  wondrous  scenes  which  distinguished 
that  event,  but  one  thing  is  recorded  of  her,  and  the 
same  is  said  of  her  again  on  a  subsequent  occasion.  She 
kept  all  these  things,  and  pondered  them  in  her  heart. 
She  photographed  them  in  her  memorj^,  to  be  repro- 
duced in  due  time,  when  the  sacred  record  should  be 
made  up  for  the  use  of  the  future  church.  They  dwelt 
there  as  blessed  coniirmations  of  all  that  the  angel  had 
foretold.  She  was  not  a  talkative,  nor  a  very  demon- 
strative woman.  She  loved  to  retire  into  herself  and 
commune  wnth  God.  She,  the  most  honored  among 
women,  shrank  with  true  w^omanly  modesty  from 
thrusting  herself  out  of  her  sphere  or  into  public  no- 
tice. True  piety,  where  it  is  deepest,  is  most  quiet, 
SThe  shallow^  brook  rushes  with  noise  and  foam  over 
its  rocky  bed.  The  deep  stream  moves  on  calmly,  fer- 
tilizing broad  acres.  It  is  self-contained,  steady,  pro- 
gressive ;  it  sounds  no  trumpet;  it  beats  no  drum;  it 
aspires  not  after  worldly  notoriety  ;  it  seeks  not  to 
have  its  name  on  every  lip  ;  it  frets  not  at  the  seeming 
narrowness  of  its  sphere.  Content  with  God's  ordina- 
tion, it  diffuses  the  fragrance  of  its  presence  as  the 
beauteous  flower  gently  breathes  its  perfume  upon  the 
passer-by.  As  a  wife  and  mother,  Mary  retires  from 
public  view.  In  the  seclusion  of  J^azareth,  she  rounds 
out  her  domestic  life  in  fulfilling  all  wifely  and  moth- 
erly duties.  Her  faith,  her  love,  lightens  the  daily 
burden  of  care,  cheers  her  husband's  heart,  and 
fills  her  home  with  the  serene  atmosphere  of  piety  and 
j)eace.  Her  precious  Son,  informed  with  a  divine 
grace,  growing  in  favor  with  God  and  man,  brightens 
-with  his  love  and  cheerful  obedience  every  hour  of 
her  life;  already  he    Avho  is  to  be  the  Savior  of  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  51 

world   slieds    upon  her  the  benediction   of    liis   holy 
jtresence. 

From  this  time  the  allusions  to  her  in  the  Scriptures 
are  few  and  brief;  and,  what  is  most  remarkable,  three 
of  these  contain  an  implied  reproof.  Once,  before  the 
commencement  of  his  ministry,  Jesus  is  taken  by  his 
parents  to  Jerusalem.  On  their  return,  the  child,  now 
passing  into  youth,  tarries  behind,  and,  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  divine  life  revealing  itself,  attracted  to  tlie 
temple,  he  discusses  with  the  learned  teachers  of  tlie 
law  those  themes  of  which  he  is  to  be  at  once  the 
chief  subject  and  most  magnificent  exponnder.  His 
parents,  missing  him  after  a  time,  return  to  Jerusa- 
lem. His  mother,  disturbed,  alarmed,  sorrowing,  re- 
lentingly  questions  Him :  "  Son  !  why  hast  thou  thus 
dealt  with  us?  Behold,  thy  father  and  I  have  sought 
thee  sorrowing."  And  he  said  unto  her:  "How  is 
it  that  ye  sought  me?  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  my  Father's  business  ?"  Oh  !  Mary,  where  is 
thy  faith  in  God  ?  thy  faith  in  thy  divine  Son  ? 
Thy  weak  heart  has  failed  thee.  And  thus  hast  thou 
taught  us  how  often  we,  like  thee,  imperfect,  sinful, 
are  disturbed  and  care-burdened  for  those  whom  with 
a  holy  faith  we  should  trust  to  the  keeping  of  Him 
whose  promise  never  fails.  Oh  !  parents,  who  in  holy 
baptism  have  consecrated  your  little  ones  to  God,  and 
are  seeking  to  train  them  with  a  Avise  and  gentle 
nurture  for  a  useful  life  and  happy  immortality,  see 
here  mirrored  thy  Aveakness  !  See  here,  too,  the  sure 
ground  of  a  contented,  quiet  coniidence !  Ye  are 
troubled  about  their  future ;  troubled  if  sickness  conies 
upon  them ;  troubled  if,  for  a  little,  they  are 
absent  from    vou  :     Trust  ye  in  Jesus !     Hold    these 


52  SERMONS    ON   THE 

precious  ones  fast  to  the  mercj-seat.  Hope  ou,  trust 
on,  though  not  at  once  ye  find  them  in  the  kingdom. 
Days,  years,  may  pass;  pray  still;  and  then,  at  length, 
ye  may  see  them  sitting  joyfull}-  in  the  temple  of 
your  God. 

The  next  allusion  to  Mary  is  on  a  very  different 
occasion.  There  is  a  marriage  at  Cana,  a  few  miles 
north  of  J^azareth.  Mary  is  there  and  Jesus.  It  is 
shortly  after  the  commencement  of  his  puhlic  min- 
istry. During  the  festival  the  wine  is  exhausted. 
Then  Mary,  as  his  mother,  and  unquestionably 
presuming  upon  that  fact,  says  to  Jesus,  "  They 
have  no  wine,"  indicating  that  he  could  and 
ought  to  supply  it.  The  answer  is  direct  reproof  of 
her  presumption.  "  "Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with 
thee  ?  Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come."  Consult  the  cases 
in  which  the  iirst  part  of  this  answer  is  used  in 
other  parts  of  scripture,  and  you  will  find  that  it  is  of 
the  nature  of  a  reproof.  Jesus  as  Messiah  has  now 
entered  upon  his  work.  It  belongs  to  no  human 
being  to  dictate  to  him  when  he  shall  use  his  divine 
power  to  work  a  miracle.  Mary  has  thrust  herself 
out  of  her  sphere.  She  has  made  more  than  a  mis- 
take— she  has  sinned,  and  that  too  in  respect  to  a 
matter  of  the  gravest  magnitude;  nor  is  it  any  justi- 
fication that  her  motive  was  one  of  kindness.  The 
sphere  of  Jesus  was  infinitely  above  hers.  She  knew 
it.  It  was  for  her  to  sit  at  his  feet  and  quietly  wait 
till  he  should  deem  it  best  to  act.  Here,  too,  we  see 
how  the  faithful  and  the  devoted  children  of  God  are 
still  compassed  about  with  infirmity, — why  David 
prays  to  be  delivered  from  presumptuous  sins.  How 
at  times  wc  all  feel  as  if  we  could  dictate  to  God,  and 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  53 

tluit  our  will  and  our  way  must  be  the  best  I  Kind 
and  generous  impulses  are  noble,  but  a  man  may  in- 
dulge them  so  as  to  violate  other  rights,  and  bring 
guilt  upon  his  own  soul.  God  is  greater  than  man  ; 
and  if  to  please  man  we  infringe  upon  the  authority 
of  God,  we  shall  not  be  held  guiltless.  Mary  feels  the 
reproof  and  humbly  retires.  She  is  uot  angry  ;  her 
humility  shines  out,  the  moment  she  is  sensible  of  her 
sin.  And  so  the  Christian,  under  the  divine  re- 
proaches, quietly  submits,  and  in  lowliness  leaves  all 
to  the  disposal  of  his  heavenly  father. 

Onl}'  once  again  docs  Mary  appear  as  an  actor 
during  the  ministry  of  her  Son.  Christ  is  pressed  on 
all  sides  by  eager  listeners.  He  is  incessantly  engaged 
in  his  great  work.  In  the  midst  of  his  labors  Mary 
seeks  an  interview — Matt.  xii.  4G.  Chrysostom  thinks 
she  was  impelled  by  a  desire  to  show  her  authority 
and  relationship;  but  this  is  not  consistent  with 
Mary's  character.  Rather  would  we  suppose  with 
others  that  her  maternal  anxieties  and  love  for  her  son, 
sought  to  induce  him  to  take  some  repose.  But,  what- 
ever the  motive,  Jesus  refuses  to  see  her,  and  in  so 
doing  announces  a  fundamental  idea  of  his  kingdom. 
"  Then  said  one  unto  him,  Behold,  thy  mother  and  thy 
brethren  stand  without,  desiring  to  speak  with  thee. 
But  he  answered  and  said  unto  him  that  told  him, 
Who  is  my  mother,  and  who  are  my  brethren  ?  And 
he  stretched  forth  his  hand  toward  his  disciples  and 
said.  Behold,  my  mother  and  niy  brethren  !  For  who- 
soever shall  do  the  will  of  my  father  which  is  in  heaven, 
the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother." 
My  kingdom  is  not  founded  on  family  or  earthly 
relationship.     It  is  a  kingdom  of  faith  and  love  alone. 


54  SERMONS    ON    THE 

Here  all  are  on  a  level — all  brethren  and  sisters  in  me 
by  faith. 

Once  again  we  see  Mary  before  the  cross  when  the 
sword  has  pierced  her  soul,  and  Jesus  commits  her  to 
the  tender  care  of  the  beloved  John.  Then  when  he 
is  risen  and  ascended,  she  is  seen  among  the  faithful 
few,  who  in  prayer  await  the  pentecostal  baptism. 
Here  she  vanishes  from  our  view.  Of  her  after  life 
and  death  no  authentic  record  remains.  This  brief 
review  of  her  life  is  specially  instructive  in  view  of 
the  claims  which  have  been  set  up  for  her. 

We  see  her  to  have  been  a  devout  Jewish  maiden, 
a  faithful  wife,  a  loving  mother,  illustrating  in  her 
life  a  true  womanhood.  Her  faith,  her  study  of  the 
scriptures,  her  humility,  her  modesty,  her  fidelity — 
all  commend  her  as  an  example  of  the  character  pro- 
duced by  the  grace  of  God.  ISTot  a  single  hint  is  given 
of  her  sinlessness,  or  that  she  difi'ered  in  her  nature 
from  Elizabeth  or  Anna,  or  any  of  those  devout  and 
loving  women  who  folloived  Christ  to  the  cross  and 
early  visited  his  sepulcher. 

Her  honor,  her  peculiar  blessedness  consisted  in 
this,  that  she  was  chosen  to  be  the  mother  of  Jesus. 
As  woman  in  Eve  bore  her  part  in  the  fall,  so  woman 
in  Mary  bore  her  part  in  giving  birth  to  him  who  is 
the  Redeemer  of  the  world. 

To  the  church  she  sustains  no  official  relation  what- 
ever. Christ  himself  expressly  disclaims  all  such 
human  relationship  in  his  kingdom.  The  moment  he 
appears,  she  retires.  A  few  allusions,  and  she  vanishes 
from  the  scene.  The  apostles  never  once  allude  to 
her.  She  is  put  as  entirely  aside  as  if  she  never  had 
existed.     To  those   inspired  men  she  is  utterly  uu- 


LIFE    OF    CllllIST.  55 


known  in  any  other  relation  to  the  cliurcli  than  that 
of  a  simple   believer,  saved   by   the  blood    of  Jesus 
Christ.     There  is  nothing  in  the  early  records,  nothing 
in  the  early  fathers  of  the   church  for  the  first  five 
centuries,  which    indicates  that  Mary  was  anything 
more  than  an  honored  member  of  the  church.     When 
an  heretical  sect  attempted  to  exalt  iier  into  an  object 
of  worship  in   the  fourth    century,  Aphiphanius    de- 
nounced tliem  and  expressed  the  opinion  of  the  whole 
church  when  he  said,  "  The  whole  thing  is  foolish  and 
strange,  and  is  a  device  and  deceit  of  the  devil.     Let 
Mary  be  in  honor.    Let  the  Lord  be  worshiped.    Let 
no  one  worship  Mary."     It  was  not  until  after  five 
centuries  iiad  passed  that  this  monstrous  and  wicked 
sentiment  began  to  show  itself  in  the  church.    During 
the  middle  ages,  when  so    many  heathenish  customs 
and  rites  were  adopted,  the  worship  of  Mary,  like  the 
worship  of  Venus   among  the  pagans,  was  introduced 
into  the  church.    First  they  made  her  perfect,  without 
a  shadow  of  evidence,  because  it  was  becoming.     Then 
they  made  her  sinless  at  her  birth,  and  this  opinion 
was  solemnly  ordained  by  the  Pope  and  his  council 
in  1854  as  a  dogma  of  the  Romish  church,  and  all 
believers  were  bound  to  receive  it.     To  show  you  a 
little  the  religious  regard  in  which  she  is  hekl  in  the 
south  of  Europe,  I  will  quote  a  few  of  the  titles  given 
to  her  in  a  work  by  Liguori,  whose  authority  no  one 
who  understands  the  subject  will  venture  to  question. 
She  is  called  the  Queen  of  Mercy  ;  our  Life  ;  our  only 
Refuge,  Help  and  Asylum ;  the  Propitiatory  of  the 
whole  world — (^ueen  of  Heaven  and  Ilell ;  our  Protec- 
tress from  the  Divine  Justice,  and  from  the  Devil  ;  the 
Mediatrix  of  grace;  the  Dispenser  of  all  grace;  omui- 


56  SERMONS   ON    THE 

potent ;  the  great  Peacemaker ;  the  throne  prepared 
in  mercy  ;  the  body  of  Salvation  ;  the  Mediatrix  of 
angels;  the  Way  and  the  Door;  the  Mediator;  the 
Intercessor;  the  Advocate;  the  Redeemer;  the 
Savior;  she  is  invested  with  a  title  archetypal  ;  with 
a  crown  of  light  as  the  morning  star  ;  a  glory  issuing 
from  the  eternal  throne  ;  robes  pure  as  the  heavens, 
and  a  scepter  over  all.  I  mention  these  things  with 
shame  and  sorrow — shame  to  see  to  what  heights  of 
absurdity  and  blasphemy  our  poor  human  nature 
tinder  seeming  religious  impulses  can  proceed,  when 
once  it  sets  its  foot  outside  of  the  living  word,  and 
begins  to  add  to  that  record  its  OAvn  inventions ; 
sorrow  that  by  multitudes,  Jesus,  the  only  Redeemer, 
should  be  practically  discrowned  and  a  feeble  woman 
exalted  to  his  throne.  And  I  read  with  a  new  light, 
and  a  more  fearful  emphasis,  the  closing  words  of  the 
Revelation  :  "  And  if  any  man  shall  add  unto  these 
things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  written  in 
this  book ;  and  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the 
words  of  this  book,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  out 
of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy  city,  and  from 
the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book."  May  God 
keep  our  weak  hearts  from  being  led  astray  by  human 
inventions  ;  may  he  shed  light  upon  the  blinded  mul- 
titudes from  whose  eyes  these  baseless  imaginations 
hide  the  glorious  mercy  of  Jesus  and  the  bounteous 
love  of  God,  and  who  feel  that  they  need  some  medi- 
ator— some  name  by  which  they  may  be  saved,  other 
than'  the  one  mediator,  the  one  name  given  under 
heaven  by  which  all  may  be  saved. 
-  Let  us  pass  out  of  these  mepliitic  shadows  into  the 
liHit  of  Christ's  own  truth.     It  has  been  said  that  tlie 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  51 

fact  that  Mai-y  was  the  mother  of  Jesus  has  given  to 
Avomaii  under  the  reign  of  Christ  her  exaltation,  and 
lifted  her  above  the  degrading  conditions  to  which 
the  world  at  large  had  subjected  her.  I  would  not 
diminisli  the  just  influence  of  this  fact.  The  thought 
is  to  me  delightful  that  she  was  the  mother  and  the 
nurse  of  Jesus,  and  by  that  association  is  forever 
houored.  But,  after  all,  the  real  power  that  has  ele- 
vated the  sex  springs  not  from  Mary,  but  from  the 
very  nature  and  genius  of  the  kingdom  of  her  divine 
Son.  When  he,  refusing  to  recognize  his  earthly  rela- 
tionship, declared  that  whosoever  did  the  will  of  his 
heavenly  father,  the  same  was  his  brother,  and  sister, 
and  mother,  then  he  struck  the  key-note  of  his 
divine  system  ;  then  he  proclaimed  that  in  his  king- 
dom there  should  be  neither  male  nor  female,  bond 
nor  free  ;  that  in  his  blessed  family  all  should  stand 
on  the  same  level  ;  all  should  enjoy  the  same  privi- 
leges;  all  should  be  brethren  and  sisters  united  in 
Christian  aft'cction.  This  is  the  secret  force  that  has 
emancipated  and  exalted  woman.  This  has  not  in- 
deed destroyed  the  distinctions  of  nature,  but  it  has 
freed  them  from  all  sign  of  inferiority  and  degradation  ; 
it  has  given  her  an  exalted  position  in  the  church  of 
Christ  a§  a  minister  of  blessing — a  co-worker  with 
him  in  advancing  his  kingdom.  This  has  consecrated 
while  it  has  purified  her  tenderness,  her  emotions, 
her  love,  her  intellect  to  the  noble  work  of  elevating- 
man.  Some  ignoble  souls  there  are  who  perpetually 
depreciate  woman.  The  answer  once  given  by  one 
of  a  company  thus  employed  is  enough  to  silence 
them.  "  Gentlemen,  I  had  a  mother  !  "  Yes  !  we  have 
had  mothers,  and  some  of  us  will  bless  God  forever  for 


58  SERMONS   ON    THE 

their  heavenly  influence  in  refining  our  rude  natures 
and  drawing-  us  to  Jesus.  Mothers,  sisters  here  to- 
night, rememher  your  high  calling;  remember  that 
Jesus  has  put  the  crown  on  your  head,  and  the  scep- 
ter in  your  hand  ;  that  he  has  delivered  you  from  the 
ferocious  and  degrading  passions  of  man,  and  lifted 
you  up  to  the  heights  of  Zion,  and  strewn  your  path 
with  his  blessings.  Oh  !  well  may  you  believe  in 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Oh  !  well  may  you  go  to  him  as 
your  dear  brother  and  Lord  amidst  the  sorrows  and 
trials  through  which  your  earthly  journey  leads. 
Have  you  the  faith,  the  love  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth  ? 
Have  you  that  secret  of  strength  which  the  divine 
word  alone  can  impart  ?  Can  ye  all  look  away  from 
the  vanities  of  earth,  entranced  by  the  glorious  bright- 
ness which  he  sheds  around  the  loving  heart  ? 

Is  it  possible  that  you  can  turn  away  from  such  di- 
vine love,  from  this  friend  of  friends,  to  immerse  your- 
selves in  those  fleeting  pleasures  which  so  soon  must 
vanish  and  leave  your  soul  desolate  and  dark  forever  ? 
Yes!  woman  loved  and  followed  Jesus.  At  Pilate's 
bar  no  voice  of  hers  cried  crucify  him.  In  sorrow  and 
tears  she  stood  by  his  cross;  with  tender  and  loving 
hands  she  brought  the  precious  and  costly  spices  to 
embalm  his  lifeless  body ;  with  eager  footsteps  she 
hasted  to  his  sepulcher  with  the  opening  light; 
with  elevated  faith  and  prayer  she  waited  for  the  bap- 
tismal spirit,  and  ever  since,  Christ  hath  honored  her 
in  the  church  and  used  her  influence  to  spread  his 
light  and  love  through  the  world.  Joyfully  she  hath 
ministered  to  his  disciples ;  exultingly  she  has  braved 
the  fires  of  martyrdom ;  and,  mightier  still,  she  has 
stood  firm  amidst  the  rushing  tide  of  earthly  attrac- 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  69 


tions,  Avith  her  eye  serenely  fixed  upon  tlie  cross,  and 
her  soul  bathed  in  the  light  of  heaven.  Oh  !  daughter, 
sister,  mother,  will  you  turn  your  back  on  Jesus,  when 
he  is  leading  up  these  heights  ofliglit  and  love,  when 
such  illustrious  example  pleads  with  you  to  forsake 
your  sins  and  bedew  his  blessed  feet  with  your  tears? 
Oh !  woman,  shall  the  Divine  Son  of  Mary  attract  you 
not,  while  the  world  and  sin  shall  lead  you  on  to  death  ? 


60  SERMONS    ON    THE 


IV. 


THE    WISE    MEN. 

"  Now  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Jiidah,  in 
the  ddijs  of  Herod  the  King,  behold,  there  came  loise  men 
from  the  East  to  Jerusalem,  saying,  Where  is  he  that  is 
born  King  of  the  Jews'?  for  we  have  seen  his  star  in  the 
east,  and  are  come  to  ivorship  himi."    Matthew  ii,  1,  2. 

Who  were  the  Magi  ?  "  Historically,  they  are  chiefly 
conspicuous  as  a  Persian  religious  caste,  Herodotus 
mentions  them  among  the  six  tribes  of  the  Medes." 
In  the  Old  Testament,  they  are  presented  to  us  as 
learned  men,  the  counselors  of  kings,  the  interpreters 
of  dreams,  and  especially  informed  in  respect  to  mat- 
ters of  religion.  After  the  conquest  of  the  East  by 
Alexander  and  the  Romans,  many  of  them  migrated 
westward,  and  professed  divination,  sorcery,  and  a  spe- 
cial familiarity  with  the  secret  powers  of  nature,  if  not 
an  alliance  with  evil  spirits.  In  the  West,  in  conse- 
quence of  these  associations,  the  name  Avas  applied  to 
designate  a  class  at  once  "hateful  and  contemptible." 
It  is  so  used  occasionally  in  the  New  Testament.  In 
the  East,  however,  they  seem  to  have  maintained  their 
position  for  a  long  time  as  a  body  of  men  learned  in 
religion  and  science.  Astronomy  was  one  of  their 
studies,  and  astrolog}',  or  divination  by  the  stars,  was 
connected  with  it.  These  men  were  evidently  of  this 
class,  and  are  to  be  distinguished  from  those  strolling 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  61 

sorcerers,  who  employed  magic  arts  for  gain,  in  the 
AVest.  They  are  said  to  have  come  from  the  East — 
in  all  probability  from  Persia  or  Parthia,  their  original 
home.  Their  language  is  truthful  and  frank,  lle- 
garding  their  mission  as  at  once  dignified,  important, 
and  perfectly  legitimate,  they  address  themselves  to 
Ilerod,  the  king  of  the  country,  as  men  accustomed 
to  courts,  and  acquainted  with  the  proper  method  of 
procedure  in  such  circumstances.  They  came  proba- 
bly with  a  large  retinue  and  considerable  state.  They 
came  not  for  traffic,  nor  for  gain,  nor  for  an  ordinary 
political  purpose.  Their  object  is  higher  and  more 
noble.  They  came  to  see  and  present  their  offerings 
to  the  new-born  king  of  the  Jews.  To  ascertain 
where  he  is  to  be  found,  they  have  an  interview  with 
Herod  himself.  He  summons  the  chief  priests  and 
scribes,  men  learned  in  the  Law.  They  inform  him 
that  the  Messiah  is  to  be  born  in  Bethlehem.  Then 
Herod,  with  his  usual  craft,  and  concealing  his  real 
object,  privately  questions  them  respecting  the  time 
when  .the  star  appeared,  sends  them  to  Bethlehem, 
and  enjoins  it  upon  them  to  return,  and  inform  him 
of  the  result.  They  proceed  to  Bethlehem,  iind  the 
child,  offering  Him  the  usual  royal  gifts,  gold,  frank- 
incense, and  myrrh;  then,  warned  of  God,  they  return 
to  their  home  by  another  way.  This  is  the  simple, 
short,  unadorned  narrative  of  this  remarkable  visit. 
In  itself,  it  is  direct,  clear,  and  eminently  truthful. 
The  subsequent  events — the  anger  of  Herod,  the  mur- 
der of  the  young  children  of  Bethlehem,  the  flight  into 
Egypt — follow  naturally  from  this  visit,  and  are  its 
consequence,  connected  logically  as  cause  and  effect. 
That  such    a    narrative   as    this  should   be   fictitious, 


62  SERMONS   ON   THE 

mythical,  invented  wholly  out  of  nothing,  is  incredi- 
ble. It  never  could  have  entered  the  brain  of  a  sane 
man,  unless,  debauched  by  the  spirit  of  unbelief,  skep- 
tical in  regard  to  the  supernatural  in  religion,  he  felt 
compelled,  by  the  necessities  of  the  case,  to  forge  a 
theory  that  might  remove  this,  in  common  with  all 
the  other  remarkable  facts  of  the  life  of  Christ,  out 
of  the  domain  of  history.  The  same  method  of  pro- 
cedure— for  there  is  no  logical  sense  in  it — would 
make  all  history  a  lie,  and  the  best  authenticated  facts 
of  the  past  an  illusion  and  a  dream.  To  show  the 
absurdities  of  these  methods  of  our  modern  rational- 
ists. Bishop  Whately,  taking  their  principles,  has 
actually  proved  that  ISfapoleon  Bonaparte  was  a  myth, 
and  his  whole  history  a  falsehood,  and  that,  when 
sound  of  the  cannon  of  Waterloo  had  hardl}^  ceased 
to  echo  around  the  walls  of  Brussels,  over  Europe. 

Josephus  does  not  mention  these  facts,  neither  does 
he  allude  to  the  crucifixion.  It  was  his  policy  to  de- 
preciate Christianity,  to  flatter  the  Eomans,  and  to 
avoid  everything  which  would  excite  their  suspicion, 
or  the  fears  of  the  Emperor.  Besides,  among  the 
vastly  more  exciting  scenes  which  attended  the  last 
days  of  llerod,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  these 
minor  events  were  either  unknown  or  forgotten.  It 
is  more  remarkable  that  Luke,  who  dwells  much  on 
the  early  history  of  Christ,  should  have  omitted  all 
mention  of  it.  But  this  is  easily  accounted  for  on 
these  principles :  1.  Luke  seems  to  have  his  eye  most 
directly  on  what  concerns  the  humanity  of  Jesus,  and 
so  has  recorded  things  connected  with  this,  omitted 
by  the  other  Evangeli.sts  ;  Matthew,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  intent  on  his  royal  messiahship,  and  seizes  readily 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  63 

on  all  the  events  which,  like  this  narrative,  bear 
directly  upon  his  kingship.  2.  Tiie  sources  from 
which  each  one  drew  the  materials  of  his  narrative 
are  unknown  to  us.  Facts  which  may  have  been 
accessible  to  one,  ma}'  not  have  been  to  another. 
This  is  common  to  all  histories,  and  the  life  of  Christ 
is  no  exception  to  the  general  rule.  3.  The  grand 
principle,  and  the  most  important  of  all,  is,  that  it 
was  not  the  divine  purpose  to  have  the  life  of  Christ 
written  by  a  single  mind,  and  thus  stand  singly  by 
itself;  but  by  different  minds,  selecting  different  facts, 
or  grouping  the  same  facts  in  different  order,  each 
according  to  his  own  mental  habitudes,  so  as  to  afford 
in  the  result  a  more  complete  picture  of  the  Savior, 
and  at  the  same  time,  from  their  undesigned  coinci- 
dences and  diversities,  place  this  life  on  the  most 
impregnable  basis.  Now,  this  principle  gives  its  pecu- 
liar character  to  the  gospel  histories;  it  accounts  for 
all  omissions,  for  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  each 
one  makes  his  own  statement,  for  the  abridged  narra- 
tive of  one  in  some  parts  and  its  fullness  in  another — 
it  gives  to  each  his  proper  position,  and  accounts  for 
nine-tenths  of  all  the  difficulties,  which  an  honest  in- 
quirer meets  in  the  study  of  the  gospels.  Amidst  the 
amazing  wealth  of  these  divine  utterances,  and  the 
thousand  miraculous  deeds  which  Jesus  performed,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  have  given  to  us  the 
whole,  or,  if  given,  they  would  have  swelled  the  gos- 
pels into  ponderous  tomes,  tit  only  for  the  shelves 
of  the  student's  library,  and  not  to  be  sent  out  and 
read  by  all  the  world — never  there  to  be  of  any  use. 
Selections  from  them  would  have  had  to  be  made  by 
uninspired  men  for  the  people,  while  the  commentaries 


64  SERMONS   ON   THE 

upon  them  woold  have  filled  more  folios  than  those  of 
the  old  lawyers  on  the  civil  law.  The  divine  wisdom 
in  the  peculiar  form  of  the  gospels  is  revealing  itself 
with  wonderful  hrilliancy  as  time  passes  on.  The 
essential  things  for  the  information  of  the  world — 
the  life  of  Jesus  in  its  real  power,  as  the  gospel  of 
redemption — are  all  there;  available  by  all,  sufiicient 
for  all,  who  in  humble  faith  seek  light  on  the  w^ay  of 
salvation,  and  strive,  by  obedience  to  His  commands, 
to  live  a  life  of  faith,  and  attain  final  salvation.  A 
great  river,  though  it  pass  through  the  center  of  a 
continent,  could  not  alone  supply  the  wants  of  the 
millions  that  people  it.  The  springs  that  gush  up  on 
every  hillside,  the  little  brooks  that  flow^  through 
every  valley — these  fertilize  the  earth,  these  supply 
the  wants  of  individual  men.  The  gospel,  written  in 
hundreds  of  volumes,  like  that  river,  would  be  acces- 
sible to  few  or  to  the  mau}^  only  at  a  vast  expense  of 
time  and  means.  The  gospel  as  it  is,  copied,  printed, 
on  the  table  of  every  house,  in  the  pocket  of  every 
believer,  is  the  same  pure  spring  of  the  water  of  life, 
at  every  man's  door,  and  he  may  drink  and  live  for- 
ever, while  the  confluence  of  the  life  it  nourishes  in 
individuals  forms  the  mighty  stream  of  Christianity 
that  is  to  encompass  the  world. 

We  come  now  to  speak  of  two  points  in  this  narra- 
tive, which  will  occupy  us  for  the  remainder  of  this 
discussion.  The  first  is  the  conduct  of  Herod,  and  its 
historic  probability.  Herod  was  of  an  Idumean  fam- 
ily, from  a  captured  Jewish  province  on  the  south  of 
Palestine.  Nominally  a  Jew,  he  was  in  heart  a  Phi- 
listine, as  his  family  are  said  to  have  been  originally. 
Early  placed  in  }>ower,  he  evinced  considerable  genius 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  65 

as  a  general  and  executive.  Bold  in  his  designs,  art- 
ful, unsernpnlous,  and  decisive  in  executing  them,  he 
Avas  successful  in  winning  the  favor  of  Home,  and 
maintaining  his  authority  over  a  discontented  people. 
His  throne  was  a  usurpation;  the  Asmonean  d3'nasty 
he  had  crushed  with  a  bloody  hand.  To  propitiate 
the  favor  of  the  people,  chafing  under  the  loss  of  their 
ancient  kings,  and  to  aggrandize  his  own  government, 
lie  enlarged  and  beautitied  the  Temple,  and  adorned 
Jerusalem  with  splendid  edifices.  In  moral  character, 
he  reached  the  summit  of  infamy.  Ambitious  to  the 
last  degree,  rapacious,  cruel,  the  slave  of  hateful  pas- 
sions, jealous,  and  irascible,  he  hesitated  at  no  means 
to  accomplish  his  purposes.  With  a  remorseless  hand 
he  sacrificed  alike  the  noble  and  the  base,  the  innocent 
and  the  guilty,  when  they  stood  in  the  path  of  his 
ambition  or  his  lust.  His  deeds  of  blood-thirsty 
vengeance  among  the  noblest  of  the  people  rival 
those  of  Cffisar  Borgia,  and  put  to  the  blush  a  Rich- 
ard the  Tliird.  In  his  own  family,  the  glow  of  natu- 
ral and  social  afiection  Avas  quenched  in  blood  by  the 
insane  jealousy  of  this  incarnate  demon.  His  own 
house  became  a  slaughter-pen,  and  his  beautiful  wife, 
Marianne,  and  his  children  were  the  chosen  victims. 
His  wife,  the  granddaughter  of  a  Jewish  king,  and 
whom  he  loved  as  tenderly  as  his  capricious  and  jeal- 
ous heart  could  love,  twice,  when  he  went  to  Rome, 
he  destined  by  secret  orders  to  death,  in  case  he 
should  not  return.  About  this  very  time,  he  had  mur- 
dered his  son  Antipater,  and  during  the  illness  under 
which  he  was  suffering,  and  of  which  he  soon  after 
died,  he  left  orders  that,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  all 

a 


66  SERMONS   ON    THE 

the  nobles  of  Jerusalem  should  be  shiin,  in  order  that 
Jerusalem  mi^^ht  be  compelled  to  mourn  over  his  de- 
parture. It  was  to  such  a  man  the  wise  men  came 
with  the  inquiry,  "Where  is  he  who  is  born  king  of 
the  Jews?"  It  is  no  Avonder.  that  the  jealous,  ambi- 
tious heart  of  this  monster  was  troubled.  His  throne 
and  that  of  his  descendants  was  in  danger.  With  his 
usual  craft,  he  instantly  formed  his  plans.  Cloaking 
his  purpose  under  a  desire  to  see  and  worship  this 
royal  child,  he  ascertains  the  time  when  his  star  ap- 
peared, and  then  enjoins  it  upon  them  to  return  and  in- 
form him  where  he  is  to  be  found.  And  when  they  do 
not  return,  then  he  issues  orders  to  slay  every  child  in 
Bethlehem  under  two  years  of  age.  Given  the  char- 
acter and  position  of  Herod;  given  the  suspicion  that 
a  child  is  born  in  Bethlehem  who  is  to  thrust  him  or 
his  children  from  the  throne,  and  the  massacre  of  the 
innocents  follows  as  fitly  as  any  effect  from  a  natural 
cause.  For  him  not  to  have  taken  the  course  he  did, 
would  have  belied  his  whole  character  and  life.  Jose- 
phus  says:  "That  Herod  did  not  spare  those  who 
seemed  most  dear  to  him,  but  slew  all  those  of  liis 
ow^n  family  who  sided  with  the  Pharisees  in  refusing 
to  take  the  oatli  of  allegiance  to  the  Roman  Emperor, 
while  they  looked  forward  to  a  change  in  the  royal 
line.'''  Macrobius,  another  historian,  has  preserved  this 
characteristic  anecdote  of  Augustus.  Y\^hen  lie  Jieard 
that  among  the  boys  of  two  years  old  Herod  had  or- 
dered to  be  slain,  one  of  his  own  sons  w^as  a  victim,  he 
said,  "that  he  had  rather  be  Herod's  hog  than  his 
son."  We  are  startled  and  amazed  at  the  depths  of 
depravity  to  which  this  man  descended.  He  may  in- 
deed  have  won  a  peculiar  infamy,  but  he  does  not 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  67 


stiiiul  isolated  and  alone  in  all  these  respects  in  the 
world's  history.  The  sultans  of  Tui-key,  for  ages,  sys- 
tematically slew  all  their  nearest  and  dearest  kindred 
who  might  possibly  thrust  them  from  the  throne. 
There  is  scarcely  in  Europe,  or  the  world,  a  royal 
house  of  any  long  standing,  against  which  the  voice 
of  crime,  monstrous  and  unnatural,  does  not  cry  to 
God  for  vengeance.  Scliish  ambition,  the  s})irit  of  a 
seliish  aggrandizen^ent,  with  tit  opportunity  for  its 
development,  and  uncountcracted  by  religious  })rinci- 
ple,  is  among  the  mightiest  influences  to  debauch  the 
manhood  of  its  possessor,  and  curse  the  world.  It 
has  turned  patriots  into  traitors;  men  of  a  gentle  and 
kindly  nature,  into  the  most  ferocious  and  cruel.  Un- 
scrupulous in  the  means  it  uses,  it  treads  upon  the 
rights  and  hearts  of  the  people,  as  if  they  were  beasts  of 
prey.  Nine-tenths  of  all  the  wars  which  have  deso- 
lated the  earth  have  sprung  from  its  seliish  lust  of 
aggi'andizement.  It  marches  with  lire  and  sword 
through  peaceful  and  populous  provinces,  utterly  in- 
sensible to  the  pleadings  of  innocence  or  the  agony  of 
broken  hearts.  It  plunged  this  peaceful  nation  into 
all  the  terrors  of  civil  conflict,  and  slew  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  your  sons  on  its  bloody  altar.  Alike  in 
all  ages,  among  all  peoples,  its  presence  is  seen  in 
every  village  and  city  of  our  land.  It  makes  the 
proud  man  court  the  favor  of  those  he  despises;  the 
moral  man  pander  to  the  ai)petites  of  the  depraved, 
that  he  may  use  them  as  stepping-stones  to  power. 
It  ascends  the  steps  of  the  capitol ;  it  waves  its  wand  ; 
governors,  representatives,  senators,  presidents,  arc 
transformed.  The  consistent  man  denies  his  princi- 
ples;  the   honorable   man    debases   himself  to  mean 


68  SEEMONS   OX    THE 

and  degrading  acts;  the  clear  intellect,  the  inge- 
nuous mind,  that  once  looked  straight  into  the  eye  of 
truth  and  right,  sees  only  a  huge  figure  of  his  own 
personality  looming  up  in  the  future.  This  fearful 
passion,  which  made  Herod  a  fiend,  Arnold  a  traitor, 
and  ISTapoleon  a  despot — which  has  shed  blood  enough 
to  float  all  the  navies  of  the  world  since  ISToah  built 
his  ark — lurks  in  you  and  me;  is  part  and  parcel  of 
our  depravity;  to  be  repented  of  in  dust,  to  be  fully 
counteracted  and  changed  into  a  healthful  stimulus 
toward  noble  objects,  only  by  the  indwelling  grace 
and  ti-ansforming  power  of  this  royal  child,  whom 
Herod  sought  to  destroy  among  the  infants  of  Beth- 
lehem. 

The  second  point  to  be  discussed  relates  to  the  star 
wdiich  guided  these  men  to  Bethlehem,  and  the  reason 
which  led  them  to  seek  out  the  infant  Jesus.  1.  To 
account  for  the  appearance  of  this  star,  several  theo- 
ries have  been  advanced.  Many  of  our  modern  com- 
mentators have  been  disposed  to- adopt  the  opinion  of 
the  astronomer,  Kepler,  that  it  was  a  conjunction  of 
planets.  He  observed  such  a  conjunction  of  the  plan- 
ets Saturn  and  Jupiter  in  the  autumn  of  1603,  and  in 
the  following  spring  Mars  was  added  to  them.  In  the 
autumn  of  1004,  a  new  star  of  remarkable  brilliancy 
appeared,  which  soon  began  to  fade,  and  finally  van- 
ished. Calculating  backward,  he  found  a  similar  con- 
junction of  these  planets  three  times,  in  the  year  of 
Rome  747  and  748.  They  were  so  near,  that  to  an 
imperfect  vision  they  might  seem  as  one.  Alford, 
assuming  this  to  be  the  case,  then  shows  that  if  the 
Magi  saw  the  fi-rst  of  these  conjunctions,  it  would  ap- 
pear to  them  on  the  20th  of  May,  in  the  east,  shortly 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  69 

before  the  rising  of  the  sun.  If  they  then  set  out  on 
their  journey,  and  occupied  five  months  in  it,  they 
would  reach  Jerusalem  about  the  time  of  the  conjunc- 
tion in  November.  If  they  left  Jerusalem  in  the  even- 
ing, these  stars,  in  the  sign  Pisces,  would  be  before 
them  in  the  direction  of  Bethlehem,  coming  to  the 
meridian  about  8  o'clock.  Prof.  Addison  Alexander, 
one  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  this  century,  and  one  re- 
markably distrustful  of  mere  theories,  says  of  this : 
"The  concurrence  is  in  this  case  so  remarkable,  and 
the  explanation  recommended  by  such  high  scientific 
authority,  that  it  would  probably  have  been  univer- 
sally adopted,  but  for  the  foregone  conclusion  that 
tlie  birth  of  Christ  took  place  in  a  different  year. 
But  that  assumption  is  so  doubtful,  and  the  views  of 
the  best  writers  so  discordant,  that  it  can  scarcely  be 
allowed  to  decide  the  question  before  us,  but  may 
rather  be  decided  by  it."  Another  theory  is  founded 
on  the  fact  that  in  some  Chinese  astronomic.il  records 
it  is  affirmed  that  a  luminous  body  or  comet  appeared 
in  749  and  750  at  Rome.  This  would  accord  with  the 
more  general  opinion  as  to  the  time  of  Christ's  birth. 
Others  again,  rejecting  these  theories,  think  "that the 
whole  tenor  of  Matthew's  narrative  points  strongly  to 
some  extraordinarj'  luminous  appearance  in  the  form 
of  a  star,  which,  having  served  its  purpose  of  guiding 
the  Magi  to  Jesus,  vanished  forever."  The  first  two 
theories  explain  the  appearance  of  the  star  according 
to  natural  laws  ;  the  last  makes  it  wholly  supernatural. 
On  this  sul)ject  I  offer  the  following  remarks:  1st. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  narrative  before  us  which 
necessitates  the  supposition  of  a  supernatural  pheno- 
menon.    It  simply  states  the  fact,  and  leaves  every 


70  SERMONS   OX    THE 

one  free  to  form  his  own  conclusions.  2d.  Where  a 
fact  is  stated  which  might  liave  occurred  in  virtue  of 
natural  law — and  there  is  nothing  in  the  statement 
contrary  to  this  idea — then  we  are  bound  to  suppose 
it  did  thus  occur.  God  does  not  go  outside  of  nature, 
to  do  that  wdiich  he  can  do  as  "well  in  accordance  with 
nature.  3d.  The  fact  that  it  was  natural  or  super- 
natural, does  not  account  for  the  connection  of  this 
star  wMth  the  new-born  king  in  the  mind  of  the  Magi. 
If  this  could  be  eftected  as  w^ell  by  an  extraordinary 
conjunction  of  stars  or  a  comet,  then  there  w^ould  be 
no  necessity  for  the  creation  of  a  special  star.  After 
all,  the  narrative  is  so  framed  as  to  leave  every  one 
free  to  form  his  own  opinion  of  the  character  of  this 
remarkable  phenomenon  ;  nor  does  it  become  any  one 
to  dogmatize  in  the  matter. 

But  the  main  question  now  meets  us,  and  demands 
an  answer.  It  is  not  whether  this  star  was  an  extra- 
ordinary natural  phenomenon  or  a  special  luminous 
appearance  created  expressly  for  this  purpose,  but 
how  in  either  case  it  came  to  be  connected  with  the 
birth  of  Jesus  in  the  minds  of  these  Magi,  and  how^  it 
was  they  were  led  to  take  so  deep  an  interest  in  a 
King  of  the  Jews,  as  to  take  this  journey  in  order  to 
present  to  him  their  royal  oiferings,  and  do  liirn^ 
homage.  This  is  evidently  the  chief  question,  and  to 
the  solution  of  it  w^e  must  now  address  ourselves.  It 
is  clear  from  this  narrative  that  in  the  minds  of  these 
men  a  more  than  usual  interest  attached  to  the  birth 
of  this  infant.  It  is  no  ordinary  King  of  the  Jews 
whose  star  tbey  have  seen.  Judea  is  but  a  speck  on  the 
map  of  the  w^orld.  Its  kings  had  risen  and  disap- 
peared, unnoticed  by  the  surrounding  nations;  even 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  71 

now  the  shadow  of  that  vast  empire,  that  had  changed 
nearly  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  civilized  world  into 
snbject  provinces,  rests  upon  it.  It  was  the  smallest, 
and  in  the  opinion  of  men,  one  of  the  least  important 
of  the  kingdoms.  Why  should  these  men,  dwelling  in 
distant  and  hostile  regions,  be  deeply  moved  by  the 
birtli  of  one  of  its  future  kings,  and  journe}'  hundreds 
of  miles  to  offer  their  royal  homage  to  the  infant  in  its 
cradle  ?  The  case  is  most  extraordinary — most  won- 
derful. It  is  all  out  of  the  common  course  of  things. 
It  can  be  explained  only  on  the  supposition  that  this 
infant  was  to  be  no  ordinary  king;  that  his  influence 
and  his  rule  was  to  extend  far  beyond  the  petty  pro- 
vince of  Judea  ;  that  all  the  nations  of  the  world  were, 
in  some  way,  to  feel  his  influence  and  recognize  his 
sovereignty ;  that  he  was  to  stand  out  in  history  as 
the  most  remarkable  of  kings ;  that  even  the  empire 
of  the  Ciiesars  was  to  bow  to  his  influence,  and  the 
world  to  behold  a  king  of  a  new  order,  of  high  and 
noble  attributes,  guided  even  by  the  divine  hand, 
ascend  the  throne.  Such  ideas  as  these  must  have 
filled  the  minds  of  these  eastern  sages  ;  such  thoughts 
must  have  kindled  their  enthusiasm,  and  moved  them 
to  make  this  most  extraordinary  visit  to  Bethlehem. 
How,  then,  came  they  to  entertain  such  views  and 
associate  them  with  the  infant  Jesus  ?  This  opens  to 
us  a  wide  field  of  inquiry,  and  one  as  yet  only  par- 
tially investigated,  but  every  step  in  which  is  full  of 
deepest  interest — every  step  in  which  sheds  new  light 
on  that  wonderful  }>rovidence  of  God  which  prepared 
the  nations  for  the  coming  of  Immanuel. 

The  promise  made  right  after  the  fall  of  a  Savior 
who  should  bruise  the  serpent  head  of  sin,  was  not 


72  SERMONS   ON    THE 

wholly  latent  and  inoperative.  A  central  idea  like 
this,  so  grand,  so  universal,  once  lodged  in  the  minds 
of  men,  was  not  likely  to  vanish  entirely  away.  Dis- 
torted, dimly  apprehended,  misconceived  it  might  be, 
but  in  many  a  thoughtful  mind  it  passed  down  from 
]N"oah,  and  in  every  nation  it  would  find  those  who 
cherished  it  as  a  prophecy  of  some  undefined  good, 
to  be  realized  in  the  appearance  of  some  one  who 
should  stand  in  relation  to  redemption  as  Adam  had  to 
the  fall.  The  institution  of  sacrifices  was  the  expres- 
sion of  this  idea  in  a  symbolical  form.  For  they  were 
based  on  the  truth  that  man  by  sin  had  forfeited  his 
life,  and  that  only  by  blood  cotdd  he  be  redeemed. 
But  the  blood  of  bulls  or  of  goats  could  not  possibly 
secure  the  remission  of  sin.  C?esar,  himself  a  free- 
thinker, says  that  for  the  life  of  man,  the  life  of  man 
must  be  offered,  since  only  thus  could  the  immortal 
gods  be  appeased.  Sacrifices  were  thus  a  standing 
memorial  of  the  fall ;  a  proof  of  man's  utter  inability 
by  himself  to  atone  for  sin ;  a  perpetual  prophecy  of 
the  coming  of  Him  in  whom  the  symbol  should  find 
its  substance — in  whom  sin  should  find  its  true  sacri- 
fice, and  man  should  find  access  to  a  pardoning  God. 
And,  in  addition  to  this,  the  felt  want  of  one  whose 
w^ords  should  enlighten  men  on  the  vast  concerns  of 
the  soul,  and  whose  power  should  deliver  them  from 
the  indwelling  power  of  sin,  naturally  inspired  the 
hope  of  such  a  deliverer,  and  helped  to  perpetuate  the 
prophecy  of  Eden  in  thoughtful  minds.  Thus  Socrates 
labored,  as  he  says,  to  be  a  helper  of  men  to  be 
new  born,  to  rise  above  the  power  of  sin  ;  thus  Plato 
affirmed  that,  in  order  to  enlighten  and  deliver  man 
from  sin,  some  one  must  be  sent  from  heaven.     All 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 


unconsciously  did  these  men  echo  the  original  promise 
given  to  Adam  ;  all  unconsciously  did  they  prophesy, 
out  of  the  heart  of  our  distressed  humanity,  of  one 
who  in  the  likeness  of  man  incarnate  should  wield 
divine  power  to  purify  the  heart  and  lift  man  up  to 
communion  with  God.  I  might  multiply  indefinitely 
testimonies  on  this  subject  from  all  t!ie  religions  of 
the  world.  I  might  show  you  how  Zoroaster  and  his 
followers  anticipated  the  coming  of  such  a  deliverer ; 
how  in  the  far  East  the  same  thought  holds  its  place ; 
how  Sibyline  oracles  in  the  West  shadowed  it  forth, 
so  that  it  was  no  figure  of  speech,  no  exaggeration  of 
a  fact,  and  no  figment  of  the  imagination,  when  the 
sacred  writers  call  Christ  the  desire  of  all  nations. 
Archbishop  Trench,  in  one  series  of  his  Hulsean  lec- 
tures, has  followed  out  this  thought  at  great  length  ; 
yet  even  he  has  not  begun  to  exhaustit.  It  is  a  mine 
into  which  many  a  learned  man  will  sink  his  shaft  here- 
after, and  out  of  the  depths  of  the  religions  of, the 
world  bring  forth  still  mightier  testimonies  to  the  di- 
vine preparations  for  the  coming  of  Messiah. 

But  the  great  influence  which  breathed  new  life 
into  these  traditions  and  memories  of  the  nations  re- 
specting a  Messiah,  which  gave  a  definite  form  to 
those  longings  and  unconscious  prophecies  of  the 
heathen,  sprang  in  the  age  immediately  preceding 
this  from  Judea  itself.  The  wonderful  providence 
which  scattered  multitudes  abroad  over  the  world, 
not  onl}^  rooted  out  the  tendencies  to  idolatry-  in 
themselves,  but  intensified  and  quickened  their  esti- 
mate of  and  love  for  their  own  Scriptures.  The  love  of 
counti-y  on  one  side,  the  amazing  purity  and  sublimity 


/ 


74  SERMONS   ON   THE 

of  their  sacred  writings  coutrasted  with  the  debasing 
superstitions  of  the  pagans  on  the  other,  exalted  their 
enthusiasm  for  their  own  religion,  impelled  them  to 
study  their  prophets  with  profonuder  zeal,  compelled 
them  to  dwell  on  the  coming  and  glories  of  their  Mes- 
siah, and  to  anticipate  the  hour  as  near  when  Jerusa- 
lem should  be  exalted  above  the  mountains,  when  all 
nations  should  flow  to  her,  when  Greek  and  Roman 
and  Oriental  should  bow  to  the  scepter  of  her  king, 
and  they  should  be  the  nobility  and  their  priests  the 
hierarchy  of  tlie  world.  For  this  they  prayed;  with 
these  sublime  voices  their  synagogues  resounded  every 
Sabbath  day.  These  voices  were  heard  by  multitudes 
without.  They  were  the  fit  expressions  of  distressed 
and  longing  hearts.  They  found  an  answering  echo 
in  many  a  thoughtful  mind.  They  were  heard  in  the 
palaces  of  kings,  in  the  libraries  of  the  learned.  They 
raised  expectation;  they  excited  curiosity.  So  that 
Tacitus  at  Rome  is  compelled  to  recognize  them; 
Virgil  immortalizes  them  in  song,  but  applies  them 
to  a  child  of  Rome.  All  over  the  West,  the  expecta- 
tion is  that  in  the  East  a  king  is  to  arise  who  shall 
rule  the  world ;  all  over  the  East,  the  expectation  is 
that  in  the  West  he  is  to  be  born.  Jerusalem  is  the 
center,  and  there  Messiah  appears. 

These  Magi  were  thoughtful  men.  They  shared  in 
these  expectations  of  this  coming  king.  They  may 
have  been  in  personal  connection  with  the  Jews,  and 
learned  more  definitely  of  the  Messiah ;  for  Daniel, 
the  chief  of  these  men  at  the  court  of  Babylon,  must 
have  left  his  impress  upon  them,  while  multitudes  of 
the  dispersion  were  still  scattered  through  all  that  re- 
gion.    But   they    were   astrologers;    the}'   constantly 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  75 

connected  the  birtli  of  great  men  and  important 
events  with  the  stars,  ^o  matter  if  the  science  was 
false.  They  acted  on  what  seemed  to  them  to  be  true. 
And  it  is  all  folly  to  sui)pose  that  God  may  not  make 
even  the  errors  of  men  the  occasion  for  accomplishing 
Ilis  purposes.  In  expectation  of  this  great  event  they 
waited  and  watched.  The  star  appears.  To  them  it 
is  the  star  of  Bethlehem.  Then,  like  others,  they 
might  have  recorded  it  and  waited  the  result.  But  no  ; 
there  is  an  inward  impulse  which  urges  them  toward 
Jerusalem.  Here  is  the  finger  of  God.  Who  that 
believes  that  God  works  in  human  hearts  b}'  influ- 
ences and  in  ways  known  only  to  Himself  denies  it? 
How  often  in  the  world's  liistory  do  men  feel  these 
unaccountable  impulses,  overriding  all  obstacles  and 
leading  them  forth  to  action  ?  How  often  are  men 
thus  affected  and  saved  by  it  from  some  great  calam- 
ity on  which  they  were  unknowingly  rushing?  What 
Christian  but  who  recognizes  this  inward  influence 
that  has  turned  his  feet  away  from  the  path  that 
would  have  led  to  misery  and  death  ?  God  designed 
the  visit  of  these  men  to  the  infant  Savior.  It  was 
connected  Avitli  Herod  and  with  the  flight  into  Egypt 
and  the  deliverance  of  Jesus.  And  it  was  His  influ- 
ence, and  His  alone,  that  brought  them  on  their  toil- 
some journey  to  pay  their  otterings  to  our  King 
Immanuel.  It  was  no  accidental  conjunctive  circum- 
stance, no  mere  mistake  in  respect  to  the  stars  and 
their  language  and  meaning,  that  brought  them  to 
Judea.  It  was  all  arranged  in  the  divine  mind,  and 
was  part  of  that  sublime  plan  of  which  the  incarna- 
tion was  the  iHgiiming  of  the  end.  The  neighing  of 
a   horse  once  decided  who   should   occupy  a  throne. 


76  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

The  destiny  of  a  nation  often  hinges  on  events  as 
slight  as  that.  But  above  them  all  God  rules.  The 
mistakes,  the  errors  of  men  are  all  known  to  Him. 
His  providence  reaches  to  them,  foresees  them,  uses 
them  to  advance  His  final  purpose  in  respect  to  this 
world.  That  star,  that  conjunction  of  stars,  had  an 
oifice  to  perform  in  reference  to  the  infant  Jesus;  and 
God  used  it  to  bring  about  this  visit  of  the  wise  men 
to  his  cradle.  The  connection  between  it  and  the 
birth  of  Christ  may  not  have  been  what  they  imag- 
ined, but  it  Avas  real  in  God's  purpose  and  fulfilled  its 
office.  So  in  a  thousand  ways  God  subordinates 
man's  mistakes  to  the  advancement  of  His  kingdom. 
It  is  His  sublime  prerogative  to  bring  good  out  of  evil, 
and  out  of  error  to  bring  forth  the  more  j^erfect 
knowledge  of  and  establishment  of  His  truth.  Thus 
out  of  alchemy  comes  the  beautiful  science  of  cliem- 
istry — a  science  which,  analyzing  the  composite  nature 
of  all  material  things,  is  revealing  new  wonders  of  di- 
vine wisdom,  long  hidden  from  the  eje  of  man,  and 
multiplying  his  resources  for  advancement  all  over  the 
earth.  Thus  out  of  war,  w^ith  all  its  savage  ferocity, 
has  sprung  the  law  of  nations,  which  one  day  maj'  be- 
come the  law  of  harmony  when  Christ  shall  have 
breathed  into  them  more  perfectly  his  spirit.  And  thus 
out  of  astrology  came  the  sublime  science  of  astronomy, 
introducing  man  into  that  universe  of  worlds  which 
nightly  holds  its  silent  march  around  our  planet.  AVe 
might  illustrate  this  thought  from  every  department 
of  knowledge  and  religion,  and  we  should  see  how  God 
is  thus  making  error  contribute  to  truth,  and  the  tran- 
sient misconceptions  of  sincere  inquirers,  the  fore- 
Tunners  of  still  hiji'lier  advances. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  77 

It  was  peculiarly  fitting  that  these  foreign  Magi 
should  lay  their  ott'eriiigs  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Angels 
had  heralded  him ;  devout  Jews  had  recognized  him, 
and  now  in  them  the  Gentile  world  presented  its 
homage  to  him  who  was  to  be  their  God.  For  that 
world  he  was  to  live  and  die ;  his  words  were  to  give 
light  to  the  nations  and  scatterthcir  darkness;  his  life 
and  death  were  to  be  their  salvation. 

It  was  fitting,  too,  that  science,  in  the  persons  of  these 
scholars,  should  stand  humbly  at  the  cradle  of  Jesus 
and  bend  its  head  in  lowly  reverence.  For  he  was  in- 
carnate wisdom ;  the  light  that  blazed  from  Calvary 
was  mighty  to  scatter  a  thousand  superstitions  which 
science  had  essayed  in  vain.  He  was  to  make  man 
conscious  of  his  immortality,  and  reveal  to  him  the  na- 
ture and  wisdom  of  God  in  all  its  sublime  comprehen- 
siveness. He  was  to  pierce  the  darkness  of  the  grave, 
and  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light.  He,  lifting 
man  above  the  mephitic  gloom  of  things  earthly,  bring- 
ing down  into  the  soul  the  elevating  truths  of  true  re- 
ligion, was  to  give  impulse  and  guidance  to  the  human 
mind  in  the  study  of  the  works  of  God,  and  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  and  the  laws  tliat  rule  in  matter  and 
mind,  that  should  make  the  future  all  resplendent  with 
light.  Of  all  this,  Christ  is  the  center  and  God  the 
circumference.  Science,  to  be  real  and  advancing,  must 
start  from  Calvary  and  get  its  true  impulse  from  the 
cross,  and  make  the  Bible  its  inspiration,  and  then  bring 
back  its  trophies  and  lay  them  humbly  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus. 

One  thought  more  and  I  have  done.  These  ^lagi 
were  men,  sinful  men,  groping  in  darkness,  longing 
for  light,  for  truth,  for  deliverance  from  sin.     The 


78  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

heavens  above  them  were  studded  witli  stars.  They 
looked  upon  them  and  studied  them,  hut  the  darkness 
still  encompassed  them;  the  soul  still  longed  for  a 
guide  to  immortality.  But  when  this  star  rose  upon 
them  heralding  the  sun,  with  impulsive,  eager  footsteps 
they  hurried  to  Bethlehem  and  recognized  their  king. 
They  came  to  Jesus  and  were  blest.  That  toilsome 
journey  issued  in  the  most  glorious  event  of  their  lives. 
That  sincere  act  of  homage  God  approved ;  he  gave 
them  special  manifestations  of  his  presence,  and  taught 
them  how  to  return.  They  brought  gold  and  precious 
spiccry  as  the  expression  of  their  homage  to  the  infant 
king;  they  carried  back  with  them  a  spiritual  benisou 
in  comparison  with  which  the  riches  of  earth  are  as 
dust  and  ashes.  They  came  as  inquirers  to  the  most 
wonderful  teacher  in  the  world,  and  they  carried  away 
thoughts  and  impressions  that  would  quicken  their 
love  and  deepen  their  faith  all  through  life.  "When  the 
storms  came,  they  saw  through  the  gloom  the  star  of 
Bethlehem.  We  hear  no  more  of  them,  for  their  mis- 
sion to  Christ  was  accomplished.  But  we  may  sup- 
pose, that  if  they  survived  to  see  the  hour  when  that 
infant  was  crucified,  and  when  his  disciples,  entering 
Mesopotamia,  and  Babylon,  and  Persia,  preached  a 
risen  Savior^  these  devout  men  would  listen  to  the  first 
words  of  message.  It  would  come  to  them  as  the  ex- 
planation of  the  mystery  and  the  glory  that  compassed 
that  royal  infant,  and,  lifting  their  eyes  from  earthly 
kings  to  Jesus  on  God's  right  hand,  they  saw  in  him 
their  Redeemer  and  their  incarnate  God. 

You,  too,  are  walking  in  darkness,  seeking  some 
guide  to  immortality.  Stars  of  nature  shine  down 
upon  you,  but  they  are  cold,  and  distant,  and  decep- 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  79 

tive.  Long  have  some  of  you  been  following  earthly 
guides.  In  vain.  In  vain.  One  star  alone  heralds 
tlie  sun  that  is  to  shed  the  light  of  immortalitv  upon 
your  perturbed  and  anxious  spirits.  So  Kirke  White 
watched  and  waited  in  darkness,  tossed  on  the  unquiet 
waves  of  earthly  passions,  and  no  harbor  of  rest  opened 
its  glad  quiet  and  its  sunlit  skies  to  his  soul.  His  pas- 
sionate nature  broke  forth  in  song;  he  ranged  through 
all  the  realm  of  literature;  he  ascended  the  hights  of 
human  science,  but  the  wind  still  roared;  the  waves 
still  dashed  around  his  frail  bark.  Then  when  despair 
had  settled  on  his  heart,  he  saw  a  star,  this  star  of  Beth- 
lehem. It  guided  him  home  to  rest,  to  peace,  to  light, 
to  God.  Oh!  thus  have  millions,  journeying  through 
the  desert,  looked  to  the  stars  around  for  some  guide 
to  an  immortal  rest.  Out  of  that  trackless  waste  no 
certain  star  shone  in  which  they  could  recognize  the 
true  guide.  They  followed  now  one  and  then  another, 
but  no  cit}'  of  light  and  rest  lifted  its  walls  and  pin- 
nacles of  beauty  and  glory  before  them.  The  night 
was  on  them  and  no  morning  came.  Then  they  saw 
the  star  of  Bethlehem  ;  then  came  the  glorious  sun  of 
righteousness,  and  then  at  length  they  reached  that 
citj^  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  what  will  you  do?  Will 
you  go  with  us  reverently  to  pay  your  homage  to  the 
infant  Jesus?  We'll  go  with  you.  Come  with  us  in 
penitence  and  faith  and  go  to  Calvary.  Will  you 
watch  with  us  at  the  sepulcher?  Will  you  on  Mount 
Olivet  see  Jesus  ascend  to  his  seat  of  power?  Will 
you  sit  })raying  with  us  in  the  placo  of  prayer,  wait- 
ing the  baptism  of  the  spirit?  Will  you  go  forth 
with  us  to  bear  the  cross  of  Jesus  and  proclaim  his 


80  SERMONS   ON   THE 

gospel  to  the  perisliing  and  ignorant?  Will  you 
walk  with  ns  in  the  joyous  and  blessed  company  of 
our  Savior?  "Will  you  with  us  enter  the  gates  of 
death,  sustained  by  faith  in  him  who  makes  those 
gates  the  portals  of  life?  Will  you  enter  with  us  those 
heavenly  mansions  he  hath  prepared  for  all  his  people  ? 
The  spirit  and  the  bride  say  come,  and  let  him  that 
heareth  say  come,  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of 
the  water  of  life  freely* 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  81 


V. 

AYIIO    TAUGHT    JESUS? 

"And  JesHS  increased  in  wisdom  and.  stature,  and  in 
favor  with  God,  and  man" — Luke  ii,  52. 

^''Whence  hath  this  man  this  icisdomf — Matthew 
xiii,  54. 

"How  knoioeth  this  man  letters,  having  never  learned,'? 
Jesus  ansioered  them,  and  said,  31y  doctrine  is  not  mine, 
but  his  that  sent  me" — John  vii,  15,  16. 

More  than  eighteen  centuries  ago,  the  traveler  who 
visited  Nazareth  might  have  seeti  a  youth  quietly 
passing  through  its  streets,  or  climhing  the  hills  on 
the  sides  of  which  it  is  built,  to  gaze  on  the  magnifi- 
cent panorama  which,  from  that,  embraces  the  Medi- 
terranean on  the  Avest,  the  great  plains  of  Esdralon 
and  the  hills  of  Judea  on  the  south,  Tiberias  and  the 
mountains  beyond  it  on  the  east,  and  Lebanon  and 
snow-crowned  Hermon  on  the  north.  A  little  later 
he  might  have  entered  the  carpenter's  shop  of  Joseph 
and  seen  him  there  working  as  a  mechanic  at  his  re- 
puted father's  trade.  This  youth  is  distinguished 
from  all  around  him  by  his  manly  grace  and  beauty, 
and  especially  by  his  countenance,  radiant  with  the 
calm  spirituality  of  his  pure  nature.  Galilee,  in  which 
he  dwells,  contains  a  mixed  population  of  Phoenicians 
and  Jews,  proverbially  uncultivated  and  rude.  Naza- 
reth, in  Galilee,  is  pre-eminent  for  its  boisterous  and 


82  SERMONS   OX   THE 

unenlightened  population.  No  molding  inflnence  of 
Grecian  intelligence  was  known  to  it.  'No  teacher  of 
the  law  from  Jerusalem  condescended  to  take  up  his 
abode  there.  N'estled  in  that  quiet  valley,  apart  from 
the  influences  of  the  great  world,  it  maintained  its 
bad  pre-eminence  in  ignorance  among  the  towns  of 
Palestine.  The  question,  "  Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth,"  gives  a  wonderful  significance  to 
the  title  which  Pilate  wrote  on  the  cross,  "  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  king  of  the  Jews." 

In  these  rude  circumstances,  his  mind  unaffected  by 
the  discipline  of  the  schools  of  Athens  or  Jerusalem, 
he  grows  from  childhood  to  youth,  from  youth  to 
manhood.  An  occasional  visit  with  his  parents  to 
Jerusalem,  to  celebrate  the  great  feasts,  is  all  the  in- 
tercourse he  has  with  the  outer  world.  But  when  the 
full  maturity  of  manhood  is  reached,  this  young  man 
emerges  from  the  vale  of  Nazareth  and  presents  him- 
self to  Ills  countrymen  as  the  Messiah,  and  stands 
forth  a  perfect  teacher  of  the  sublimest  truths.  For 
three  years  he  speaks  and  writes  as  never  man  before 
or  since  has  taught  or  wrought ;  then,  dying  on  Cal- 
vary, he  rises  from  the  grave  and  ascends  to  heaven. 
The  system  of  truth  he  taught  and  illustrated  in  his 
life,  wherever  it  has  gone,  wherever  it  is  received,  ele- 
vates man  into  a  liigher  region  of  knowledge  and  life. 
It  became  the  inspiration  of  millions;  it  overturned 
the  religions  of  heathenism;  it  introduced  a  new  era 
of  progress ;  it  has  grown  stronger  in  the  numbers 
who  accept  it  from  year  to  year ;  it  moves  forward  to 
the  conquest  of  the  world.  Whence  did  he  derive 
that  truth  ?  How  came  he  to  be  informed  with  such 
knowledge  ?     How  comes  it  to  pass  that  this  young 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  83 

man,  roared  in  such  adverse  eirennistaiices,  in  the  short 
si)acc  of  three  years,  has  done  that  which  all  the 
greatest  intellects  of  the  world,  trained  in  the  finest 
schools,  working  their  protracted  lives,  have  been  ut- 
terly nnahlc  to  approximate  unto,  so  that  in  compari- 
son with  him  and  his  work  they  are  as  babbling  in- 
fants to  the  angel  standing  in  the  sun!  But  in  order 
to  show  yon  the  absolntcly  immeasurable  difference 
between  Christ  and  all  other  teachers,  and  to  justify 
more  fully  the  answer  which  must  be  given  to  these 
questions,  I  ask  you  to  consider  with  me  his  peculiar 
character  as  a  teacher,  and  the  character  of  the  truths 
he  uttered. 

1.  Christ  as  a  teacher  condenses  and  combines  all 
that  is  true,  real,  and  important  for  man  to  know  in 
all  the  religions  of  the  world.  There  is  nothing  vital 
and  permanent  in  any  system  of  faith,  nothing  in 
them  that  is  essential  to  Inuuan  elevation  or  spiritual 
progress,  that  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  teachings  of 
Christ  in  form  free  from  all  error  and  infinitely  better 
adapted  to  bless  man.  Truth  has  always  been  in  the 
world ;  God  gave  man  a  revelation  of  it  to  a  certain 
extent  at  the  lirst.  Ilis  conscience  responded  to  it; 
the  law  was  written  on  his  heart.  But  his  passions 
were  antagonistic,  and  often  got  the  better  of  con- 
science. They  obscured  the  truth  ;  they  led  men  to 
mix  it  with  error,  to  substitute  imaginations  and 
human  reasonings  in  its  place.  Once  in  a  while  a 
devout  soul,  with  tine  powers  of  thought,  seized  upon 
isolated  portions  of  it  and  proclaimed  it  anew,  and 
taught  it  to  a  circle  of  disciples.  They  in  turn  added 
to  it  something  of  their  own,  distorted  it,  obscured  it. 
And  thus  the  truth  was  only  here  and  there  a  grain 


84  SERMONS   ON   THE 

of  gold  in  the  midst  of  sand  and  nibbish.  The  fair  sys- 
tem of  truth  was  broken  up.  Isolated  fragments  only 
remained,  and  those  welded  into  systems  of  monstrous 
error  and  superstition.  Then  Christ  arose.  Out  of 
the  mind  of  this  Galilean  peasant  it  came  fortli,  the 
pure  gold,  stamped  with  his  image,  to  be  the  spiritual 
currency  of  the  world.  The  error,  the  imagination, 
the  superstition  have  vanished.  Refined  of  its  dross; 
bright  in  its  pure  luster;  henceforth  the  world  recog- 
nizes it  as  his  truth — as  the  truth  of  God.  It  is  here ; 
it  is  in  Europe;  it  is  spreading  over  the  world  in  its 
original,  pristine  purity.  "Whence  came  it  ?  How  is 
it  that  he  alone  in  all  history,  unlearned  in  human  phi- 
losophies, unlearned  in  human  religions,  unveils  the 
truth  of  God  in  all  its  perfection,  undimmed  by  a  par- 
ticle of  the  dross  of  error  ?  Who  is  this  being  who  thus 
walks  in  heaven's  own  brightness- — whose  utterances 
are  the  utterances  of  God  himself  out  of  that  region 
of  light  where  there  is  no  darkness  at  all  ?  Who  is 
this  whose  words  no  mind,  however  great,  can  add  to, 
can  take  from,  without  marring  their  beauty  and  their 
vitality  ?  Who  is  this  whose  eye,  glancing  through 
history,  and  into  man,  and  up  to  God,  detects  all  that 
is  pure,  and  real,  and  vital  in  the  past  and  present, 
and,  separating.it  from  all  that  is  impure  or  doubtful, 
stamps  it  as  God's  pure  truth,  and  gives  it  currency 
forever  ? 

2.  Jesus  unfolded  the  true  nature  of  the  Mosaic 
economy,  and  brought  out  the  true  spirit  of  the  doc- 
trines and  precepts  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 
His  conceptions  of  the  Mosaic  economy  were  radical, 
clear,  and  definite.  The  Jews,  without  an  exception, 
regarded  this  system  as  permanent.     It  was  divinely 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  85 

appointed;  it  was  designed  to  exalt  and  purity  their 
nation  ;  it  was  meant  ultimately  to  bless  other  nations  ; 
but  this  blessing  was  to  reach  the  world  at  large  onl}^ 
through  them  ;  the  Gentiles  were  to  come  to  them  for 
light;  but  they  were  to  be  the  favored  nation  ;  Jeru- 
salem was  to  be  exalted  above  the  hills;  they  were  to 
be  the  nobles,  and  Messiah  the  king  of  the  world  ;  the 
same  ritual,  the  same  civil  statutes  were  to  continue, 
everything  was  to  proceed  in  the  same  general  course ; 
but  their  influence  was  to  ditfuse  itself  and  leaven  the 
heathen.  The  glory  that  was  to  rest  on  Zion  was  tem- 
poral, and  Messiah  was  to  rule  as  a  civil  as  well  as  a 
religious  king  over  all  men.  This  view  all  their  great 
and  learned  men  supported.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  a  single  one  of  them  all  entertained  a  different 
opinion.  But  Christ,  when  he  entered  upon  his  Mes- 
sianic work,  propounded  a  view  entirely  antagonistic 
to  this.  He  declared  that  this  whole  system  was  only 
educational,  and  preparatory  to  another  and  a  grander 
system  which  he  announced.  Its  ceremonial,  its  pro- 
vincial, its  purely  national  arrangements  were  all  to 
pass  away.  Jerusalem  was  no  longer  to  be  the  center 
of  worship.  The  Mosaic  system  w^as  only  the  chrysalis  in 
which  the  church  was  [»repared  to  assume  another  and 
nobler,  a  more  universal,  form.  Nay,  he  advanced  be- 
yond this;  he  not  only  announced  that  this  was  the 
real  purpose  of  that  ancient  system,  but  he  afhrmed 
that  in  him  personally  it  had  reached  its  fulfillment. 
He  was  the  appointed  Messiah,  whose  reign  Avas  to  be 
spiritual,  universal,  eternal.  In  him  types  and  proph- 
ecy were  to  have  their  fulfillment.  He  was  to  break 
the  shell  of  the  chrysalis,  and  the  imprisoned  church, 
now  ripe   in    the   fullness   of  time,  was  to   spread  its 


86  SERMONS   ON   THE 

wings  for  a  world-wide  conquest.  Think  a  moment, 
how  radical,  how  sweeping,  how  practical,  was  this 
announcement!  The  distinctive  characteristics  of  this 
nation  were  to  be  obliterated  at  a  blow ;  its  religious 
institutes  divinely  established ;  cemented  by  blood ; 
consecrated  by  ages  of  devotion  ;  associated  with  all 
that  was  good,  and  grand,  and  inspiring  in  the  past ; 
the  crown  and  glory  of  the  whole  people  ;  to  snstain 
wliich,  patriotism  and  religion  united;  the  perpetua- 
tion of  whicli  alone  could  exalt  them  as  a  nation  among 
nations,  and  kindle  their  enthusiasm,  and  breathe  in- 
to them  the  inspiration  of  hope — were  all  to  be  swept 
away  forever.  Do  you  wonder  now  at  the  intense  an- 
tagonism which  they  instinctively  felt  toward  Jesus, 
and  which  so  soon  culminated  in  the  cry — "  Crucify 
him  !  Crucify  him  !  " 

But  this  is  not  all.  While  he  swept  away  the  Mosaic 
economy  as  a  national  and  preparatory  system,  he  un- 
veils the  true  spirit  which  breathes  through  it  the  preci- 
ous truths  and  holy  doctrines  which  lay  at  its  found- 
ation, and  gave  it  all  its  vitality.  These  were  the 
spiritual  forces  that  maintained  the  life  of  true  relig- 
ion ;  these  were  the  trutlis  which  were  permanent  and 
eternal;  these  must  enter  into  his  new  kingdom  of 
righteousness  and  peace.  At  this  time  the  nation  as 
a  whole  was  settling  into  a  rigid  formalism.  Two 
schools  of  somewhat  different  tendencies  were  training 
the  people  for  this  sad  eclipse  of  true  faith.  One,  rep- 
resented by  the  Pharisees,  and  by  far  the  largest  and 
most  powerful,  professed  to  receive  not  only  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets  as  inspired,  but  with  these  a  multi- 
tude of  traditions  as  almost  of  equal  authority.  They 
held  the  truth,  but  it  was  so  overlaid  with  these  often 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  87 

puerile,  absurd,  and  eontradictory  traditions,  as  to  ob- 
scure, distort,  and  practically  nullify  it.  Some  of  you 
may  have  seen  what  is  called  a  palimpsest — that  is,  an 
old  parchment  on  which  the  original  writing  has  been 
rubbed  over,  and  something  else  written  on  it.  Thus 
the  Pharisees,  like  the  Church  of  Rome,  had  written 
their  traditions  all  over  the  original  word  of  God,  so 
that  man  lost  sight  of  it.  But  when  Jesus  came,  he 
denounced  their  whole  traditional  system  ;  he  rubbed 
it  out,  and  restored  the  original  word  just  as  inspira- 
tion wrote  it.  lie  tore  the  masks  from  their  faces, 
and  denounced  them  as  corrupters  of  the  truth  ;  and 
held  up  before  men  tlie  simple  word  in  its  original  in- 
tegrity and  purity  as  the  true  and  only  guide  to  life. 
This  man,  confronting  the  most  powerful  sect  of  his 
countrymen,  and  the  masses  who  sympathized  with 
them,  restored  the  word  of  God  to  its  true  place. 

The  other  school,  represented  by  the  Sadducees, 
professed  to  hold  only  to  the  Mosaic  law,  and  to  this 
mainly  as  a  civil  and  moral  code.  They  lost  sight  of 
its  true,  profound,  religious  significance.  They  were 
afraid  to  step  their  foot  into  the  spiritual  world. 
Their  religion  was  outward  and  material.  They  pro- 
fessed to  be  led  by  reason.  They  not  only  rejected 
tradition,  but  heart  religion  itself.  They  left  the  word 
of  God  as  dry  and  barren  and  juicclcss  as  a  squeezed 
orange.  Their  religion  was  art,  and  taste,  and  litera- 
ture, and  intellectual  refinement.  They  were  the  infi- 
dels of  that  age,  as  they  would  have  been  the  rational- 
ists of  this.  Jesus  deals  with  them,  too.  He  points  out 
to  them  the  profound  spirituality,  the  vital  meaning 
in  the  word  which  they  overlooked.  He  brought  forth 
before  both  these  classes  the  intense  spirit  of  religion 


88  SERMONS   ON    THE 

which  pervaded  and  vitalized  every  pai't  of  it.  He 
scattered  the  superstitions  of  the  one  and  the  skepti- 
cism of  the  other  with  the  same  hreath.  He  revealed 
the  fundamental  system  of  truth  which  was  in  the 
Old  Testament  and  which  they  either  misconceived  or 
doubted.  Aud  thus  he  affirmed  all  that  which  was 
permanent  aud  abiding,  aside  from  the  forms  and  cere- 
monies, the  types  and  the  civil  statutes.  Thus  this 
youth  of  Nazareth  comprehends  what  no  mortal  be- 
fore him  or  since  understood  ;  he  holds  in  his  mind  an 
original  conception  of  the  whole  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation ;  he  takes  in  at  a  glance  the  truth  that  was 
designed  for  educational  preparation  ;  the  truth  that  is 
essential  to  all  religion  and  is  eternal.  He  scatters 
the  fog  of  tradition  and  the  darkness  of  skepticism. 
He  stands  up  as  in  himself  the  fultillment  of  all  that 
is  temporary  and  the  vital  center  of  all  that  is  perma- 
nent and  spiritual,  and  the  result  justifies  his  wisdom. 
The  law,  which  he  pronounced  evanescent  and  tempo- 
rary, is  gone  forever ;  its  mission  is  accomplished,  and 
it  remains  to  us  as  only  as  the  luminous  history  of 
that  stage  of  the  church,  shedding  light  on  the  provi- 
dence and  wondrous  wisdom  of  God  in  the  training 
of  this  nation.  But  what  he  made  permanent,  remains 
and  enters  into  our  experience  as  Christians.  See 
now  how  grandly,  under  his  wonderful  tuition,  the 
old  text  harmonizes  with  the  new — how  the  old  is 
illuminated  b}'  the  new,  and  the  new  is  connected  with 
the  old  as  part  of  one  sublime  system,  animated  by  one 
spirit,  originated  by  one  mind,  and  unitedly  filling  up 
the  circle  of  truth  for  the  salvation  of  men.  When  I 
read  the  Old  Testament  in  the  light  of  the  I^ew,  I  seem 
-not  to  be  passing  into  another  atmosphere  or  another 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  89 

region  of  thought ;  it  is  the  same ;  the  same  God,  the 
same  Savior  in  prophec}-,  the  same  Christian  life  and 
experience.  When  I  read  the  New,  I  sec  in  it  only  a 
fultillment  of  the  Old  ;  the  same  system  more  fully  de- 
veloped ;  the  same  truth  set  forth  in  clear  light;  and  I 
clasp  this  whole  Bible  to  my  heart  as  the  living  AVord 
of  God,  all  of  it  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  instruction,  for  edification  in  righteousness.  Now 
how  did  it  come  to  pass  that  this  young  Nazarene 
stood  so  immensely  above  all  his  predecessors  and  con- 
temporaries ?  IIow  did  the  fullness  of  this  vast 
scheme,  known  only  to  the  mind  of  God,  only  par- 
tially shadowed  forth  in  the  Old  Testament,  possess 
his  intellect  as  defined,  clear  and  comprehensive  as  if  he 
had  stood  at  the  fountain-head  of  wisdom  and  himself 
originated  it?  Whence  did  he  derive  that  transcend- 
ent insight  which  detects  the  transient  and  the  per- 
manent, the  substance  in  the  form,  the  entire  relations 
of  this  sublime  scheme  to  God,  to  the  Jewish  nation, 
to  universal  man ?  Nay,  more  ;  how  came  he,  a  30uth, 
of  lowly  parentage,  with  no  prestige  of  scholarship,  or 
wealth,  or  station,  to  make  himself  the  grand  object 
of  all  the  transient  arrangements  of  the  Mosaic  econ- 
omy ?  To  assume  a  character  the  most  exalted  and  the 
most  important  in  the  world  ?  Answer  me  these  ques- 
tions, ye  who  believe  only  in  natural  law  and  the  or- 
dinary development  of  the  human  mind  under  the 
conditions  essential  to  the  progress  of  all  other  intel- 
lects? What  are  the  natural  conditions  necessary  to 
develope  such  a  mind?  Or  can  you  conceive  of  any 
human  being  in  the  circumstances  in  wiiich  Christ 
was    placed,    solely   from    himself,    originating    such 


90  SERMOT^S    ON    THE 

thoughts   and   iixing  them    as   a  blazing   sun  in  the 
heavens  to  shed  light  upon  the  Avorld  ? 

3.  Passing  now  to  another  point;  see  with  what 
wonderful  vividness  he  presents  old  doctrines  only 
dimly  aiDprehended,  and  advances  new  truths !  He 
proclaims  the  fatherhood  of  God,  in  terms  the  most 
remarkable  and  comprehensive.  God  is  not  merely  a 
sovereign,  but  a  father,  feeling  a  father's  interest  in 
all  his  intelligent  creation ;  loving  them  with  God-like 
intensity ;  not  the  Jew  only,  but  the  Gentile ;  not  a 
class,  but  the  race.  Hear  that  wonderful  announce- 
ment: God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  might  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life  !  This  is  the  most  ■ 
sublime,  most  loving,  most  divine  truth,  the  ages  have 
ever  heard.  This  is  the  brightest  illustration  of  God's 
fatherhood,  and  the  mightiest  appeal  to  the  hearts  of 
men,  seen  or  heard  in  all  the  centuries.  It  is  a  sub- 
lime revelation  of  love  flashed  down  amid  the  deprav- 
ities, and  misconceptions,  and  hatreds,  and  darkness 
of  the  race.  Our  father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed 
be  thy  name,  is  the  seraphic  opening  of  that  compre- 
hensive prayer  he  taught  his  disciples.  Our  father, 
thy  father,  my  father,  to  whom  as  a  child  I  may  come, 
in  all  my  want  and  sorrow.  See,  too,  how  he  dignities 
the  soul!  with  what  infinite  value  he  invests  it!  how, 
beside  it,  the  wealth  of  time,  the  glory  of  material 
things,  suns,  stars,  the  whole  universe  of  nature  fades, 
vanislies  in  the  darkness  of  utter  emptiness !  See  how 
the  human  heart  is  set  forth  as  the  temple  of  God  or 
devils;  the  true  throne  of  God,  the  usurped  seat  of 
Satan.  Forms  are  nothing,  earthly  distinctions  are 
nothing,   intellectual    attainments    are    nothing,   the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  91 

lietirt,  where  riglit  or  wrong,  love  or  selfishness,  holi- 
ness or  sin  originate  and  live,  and  give  man  his  true 
character  for  eternity — this  is  all  in  all. 

Then  how  sin  and  holiness  are  set  forth — sin  in  its 
guilt,  its  horrible  pollution,  its  intrinsic  evil,  the  only 
evil  in  the  universe;  holiness  in  its  purity,  its  har- 
mony, its  blessedness,  likening  man  to  God,  and  fitting 
him  for  heaven.  Sin  is  damnation;  holiness  is  salva- 
tion. The  new  birth  through  which  all  must  pass ; 
the  holy  spirit,  the  regetierator,  the  comforter,  the 
guide,  the  ever-present  divine  assistant;  the  self-de- 
nials, the  crosses  to  be  endured  and  taken  up  in  the 
Christian  life  ;  the  strait  gate,  the  narrow  way,  and  all 
their  cognate  ideas  connected  with  man's  deliverance 
from  sin,  how  bright,  clear,  defined,  they  appear  in  his 
teachings!  And  then,  behold!  how  the  divine  dispo- 
sition to  forgive  sin  in  the  repentant  sinner  is  made 
real,  intense,  practical !  The  parable  of  the  prodigal 
son;  what  a  picture  of  divine,  ineffable  love,  tender- 
ness, mercy  to  the  ruined  yet  penitent  child  has  he 
painted  for  the  world  to  look  upon!  And  what  a 
world  of  meaning  is  condensed  into  its  crown  of 
thought — there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  God,  among 
the  angels  of  heaven,  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  ! 
Oh !  ye  philosophers,  3^0  prophets,  ye  poets,  ye  theolo- 
gians of  all  the  ages,  who  of  ye  ever  gave  to  man  such 
living  revelations  of  divine  forgiveness  as  this  youth 
of  Nazareth?  Can  we  wonder  that  the  heart  of  all 
the  good  on  earth  and  in  heaven  throbs  at  the  name 
of  Jesus,  when  he  illustrates  in  his  own  person  such 
mercy  as  this!  For  here  we  must  ascend  Calvary  to 
see  this  truth  realized  in  action,  revealed  in  agony, 
when  he,  as  the  Lamb  of  God,  became  a  sacrifice  for 


92  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

the  sins  of  man,  and  henceforth  altars  and  priests  and 
brute  victims  give  phice  to  the  cross  as  the  altar,  and 
Jesus  as  priest  and  victim  to  atone  for  man.  Then 
right  alongside  of  tljis  unspeakable  love,  see  how  he 
unveils  the  future  world  ;  how  he  paints  retribution  ; 
sin  in  its  final  ruin ;  the  sorrow  awaiting  the  sinner 
who  rejects  and  despises  God's  mercy;  the  torment,  the 
worm  that  never  dies,  the  fire  that  never  shall  be 
quenched ;  and  how  he  draws  aside  the  veil  that  hides 
theglory  of  heaven,  and  immortality,  holiness  ineffable, 
burst  upon  us ;  Dives  in  hell ;  Lazarus  in  Abraham's 
bosom,  and  the  inexpressible  pity  of  the  saved  patri- 
arch—  Son,  remember !  remember!  These  are  scenes 
transcending  the  highest  heaven  of  human  invention. 
These  are  truths  which  only  he  who  dwelt  in  the  high- 
est heaven  of  divine  thought  could  thus  unfold.  Then 
comes  the  resurrection ;  those  words,  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life,  echoing  in  hope  over  the  dear 
Christian  dust,  and  opening  to  the  sorrowing  heart  re- 
unions in  glory,  when  we  too  shall  be  no  longer  dwel- 
lers here.  But  time  would  fail  me  to  speak  of  all 
these  teachings;  to  tell  you  how  he  taught  that  love 
and  unselfish  devotion  to  man  is  the  golden  life  of  his 
followers  and  the  inspiration  that  is  to  save  the  lost; 
and  how  all  these  truths  constitute  harmonious  parts 
of  one  great  system,  men  saw  not,  men  felt  not,  till  he 
revealed  them  in  all  their  completeness. 

4.  I  ask  you  now  to  notice  the  universality  and 
vitality  of  Christ's  teachings.  Everywhere  he  lays 
down  principles  that  pertain  to  God  and  man  in  all 
ti-me.  There  is  nothing  one-sided,  nothing  partial, 
nothing  incomplete.  Christianity  is  the  universal  re- 
ligion.    Its  foundation  and  superstructure  are  built 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  93 

for  all  men.  Take  his  conception  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ;  it  is  not  of  this  world;  if  it  were,  it  would  of 
necessity  be  local  and  partial.  It  is  spiritual,  and  hence 
universal.  Worship  is  not  local ;  it  may  be  rendered 
as  truly  in  the  log  cabin  of  a  frontier  settler,  as  in  Je- 
rusalem with  its  magniticent  temples.  Places  arc  not 
sacred ;  wood  and  stone  are  not  holy ;  the  heart  of 
man  is  God's  temple.  Whenever  a  soul  cries  to  him 
Abba,  Father,  there  is  acceptable  worship  and  an  ac- 
cepted worshiper.  Take  his  conception  of  the  brother- 
hood of  man  ;  it  is  not  family ;  it  is  not  the  nation ; 
it  is  not  color;  it  is  simply  humanity.  Just  so  his  idea 
of  brotherhood  in  the  church.  Whosoever  believeth 
in  me,  the  same  is  my  brother,  mother,  and  sister.  All 
ye  are  brethren.  Or  look  at  the  conditions  of  pardon 
and  acceptance  with  God.  It  is  not  go  to  Mecca,  to 
Jerusalem,  Rome ;  it  is  not  offer  sacrifice  in  this  place 
or  that ;  it  is  not  go  wash  in  Jordan  or  the  Tiber ;  it 
is  not  receive  absohition  at  the  hands  of  a  mere  mortal 
like  yourselves ;  but  simply  repent  and  believe.  Now  re- 
pentance and  faith  are  universal.  They  are  exercises 
which  any  man  and  all  men  in  all  places  may  put  forth. 
And  thus  I  might  carry  you  through  all  the  teachings 
of  Christ,  and  you  would  see  in  them  all  how  the  ad- 
ventitious, the  local  are  lost  sight  of,  while  the  every- 
where true,  important,  and  essential  are  alone  held 
forth.  The  gospel  is  a  code  of  fundamental  principles, 
based  on  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  and  universal  kingdom. 
It  was  designed  for  all  men,  and  its  parts  like  the  work 
of  God  are  exactly  fitted  for  this  end.  His  last  com- 
mand is  universal.  Go  preach  my  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. It  ie  not  go  preach  a  particular  form  of  church 
government,  but  just  this:  Proclaim  this  transcendent 


94  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

evangel  of  peace  and  love,  of  faith  and  hope,  of  re- 
pentance and  salvation,  to  all  nations.  My  gospel  is 
the  air  which  all  men  must  breathe ;  the  water  all  men 
must  drink;  the  true  bread  all  men  must  eat  if  they 
would  live  forever.  !N"ow,  my  friends,  how  came  this 
young  man  to  possess  in  his  mind  such  complete,  such 
infinite,  such  universal  ideas?  How  came  he  to  rise 
in  his  conceptions  heaven  high  above  all  the  prophets 
and  the  wise  men  of  all  ages  ?  Where  did  he  s^et  this 
magnificent,  this  vital,  this  eternal,  this  compact,  this 
perfect  system  of  thought;  just  the  one  for  all  men  ; 
one  in  whom  no  man  has  been  able  to  detect  a  flaw,  to 
find  anything  superfluous,  anything  wanting?  And 
why  in  mere  human  philosophy  there  never  has  been 
a  perfect  system,  or  one  that  could  stand  the  adverse 
criticism  of  a  single  age  ?  Yet  here  is  a  system  of  re- 
ligion that  vindicates  its  integrity  from  age  to  age ; 
that  triumphs  over  all  opposers  and  compels  their  in- 
voluntary homage;  that  blesses  all  men,  and  is  preached 
to-day  in  nations  civilized  and  uncivilized,  and  is  just 
as  fresh,  just  as  vital,  as  it  was  when  thousands  heard 
it  and  believed  it  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

5.  "When  next  we  look  at  the  form  and  manner  of 
Christ's  teachings,  we  are  struck  with  the  same  un- 
questioned superiority  to  all  other  teachers.  The  hu- 
man mind,  by  a  necessity  springing  from  its  limited 
and  imperfect  powers,  reaches  truth,  especially  any- 
thing beyond  the  simplest  elements,  by  slow  processes 
of  reasoning,  by  the  observation  of  phenomena,  put- 
ting this  and  that  together,  and  from  them  at  length 
inferring  something  else  is  true.  You  find  the  greatest 
minds  subject  to  this  law  as  well  as  those  which  are 
inferior.     Even  genius  has  been  defined  as  simply  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  95 


power  to  hold  tlio  iiiiud  long  fixed  on  a  single  subject, 
so  as  to  follow  out  its  various  parts  and  connections; 
and  when  3'ou  consider  the  great  teachers  of  the  world, 
you  see  how  true  this  is  of  them.  Socrates,  Plato, 
Aristotle,  Cicero,  grope  their  way  along,  reasoning  out 
this  point,  then  that,  feeling  for  a  foothold  like  men 
in  the  dark  treading  a  morass.  And  when  they  pre- 
sent their  conclusions  there  is  the  same  doubtful  air, 
and  more  or  less  uncertainty  attending  all  they  say. 
Socrates  was  unquestionably  one  of  the  greatest  as 
well  as  one  of  the  most  devout  of  the  ancients.  Yet 
how  limited  are  his  views  ;  how  cautiously  he  reasons  ; 
and  even  when  he  is  about  to  die,  he  expresses  great 
uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  future. 
But  when  you  turn  to  Christ,  how  different  is  his 
whole  character,  how  immensely  superior  in  form 
and  manner  his  teachings!  There  are  no  plausible 
speculations,  no  turning  aside  to  gather  flowers  of 
rhetoric,  no  long  process  of  reasoning,  no  uncertainty 
in  regard  to  these  very  questions  which  transcend  the 
limits  of  the  human  intellect.  His  thoughts  are  in- 
tuitions; they  break  forth  from  a  full  mind  as  the  sun 
through  the  clouds.  They  come  with  a  divine  author- 
ity. As  one  who  knows  all  things,  to  whose  vision 
the  past,  the  present,  the  future,  heaven  and  hell,  time 
and  eternity  are  present;  whose  divine  mind  ranges 
through  all  the  universe,  and  knows  every  angel's 
form  and  every  sinner's  destiny ;  to  whom  facts  are 
philosophy,  and  reasoning  is  superfluous;  to  whom 
the  mind  of  God  and  the  mind  of  man  are  equally  well 
known;  he  speaks  truth  with  a  divine  certainty ;  he 
teaches  with  an  authority  that  compels  his  hearers  to 
say,  Who  is  this,  for  he  teaches  with  authority,  and 


96  SERMOXS   ON    THE 

not  as  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees?  Has  the  world 
ever  seen  another  teacher  like  him  ?  another  who  ap- 
proaches him  in  the  sublimit}^,  the  fulhiess,  the  cer- 
tainty, the  authority  of  his  instructions?  How  came 
this  man,  just  out  of  youth,  to  assume  such  authority, 
to  possess  such  knowledge,  to  deviate  from  all  others 
in  the  manner  of  his  teachings?  What  model  did  he 
form  himself  after  ?  Who  molded  this  extraordinary 
character?  Who  helped  to  fill  his  soul  with  such  a 
world,  a  universe  of  intuitive  thought  ? 

6,  I  have  reserved  to  the  close  of  this  discussion  the 
most  remarkable  characteristic  of  these  teachings  of 
Christ.  He  makes  himself  the  center  and  original  of 
all  this  wonderful  system  of  religious  truth.  This 
spiritual  kingdom  is  his  kingdom,  and  all  parts  of  it 
stand  related  to  him  as  its  head.  He  is  the  sacrifice  for 
sin,  from  which  pardon  and  peace  come  to  the  world. 
He  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  He  has  all 
power.  He  is  to  jadge  the  world.  Men  are  to  believe 
on  him  as  their  Savior.  In  his  name  they  are  to  pray. 
He  is  to  come  in  his  glory.  He  is  the  resurrection 
and  the  life.  He  opens  the  gates  of  heaven.  He  pre- 
pares mansions  for  his  followers.  He  draws  all  men 
unto  him.  He  sends  his  spirit  to  renew  and  inspire 
his  followers.  He  is  the  Living  Lord  who  after  death 
is  to  be  with  his  people  all  over  the  world.  And  thus, 
in  ways  manifold  and  various,  he  constantly  assumes 
divine  functions  and  makes  himself  the  center  around 
which  Christianity  revolves.  It  may  be  said,  indeed, 
that  he  sometimes  distinguishes  between  himself  and 
God.  But  this  is  a  fundamental  mistake.  He  distin- 
guishes between  his  human  nature  and  his  divine. 
He  must  do  this.     He  had  the  mind,  the  heart,  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  97 

soul,  the  body  of  a  man.  They  in  their  blindness  at- 
tributed to  the  human  what  did  not  belong  to  it.  He 
cori'ects  this  error. 

It  was  not  as  man  he  said  and  did  these  things. 
He  had  a  broader  personality ;  he  was  the  divine 
word  inearnate.  And  it  was  in  this  divine  character, 
this  higher,  more  real  personality  that  he  did  his 
mighty  works  and  spake  his  mighty  words  and  as- 
sumed such  sublime  functions.  It  was  not  as  Jesus 
the  man,  but  as  Christ  the  incarnate  God  he  spake 
and  acted.  Otherwise  he  is  the  most  horrid  blas- 
phemer the  world  ever  saw.  Slowh-  this  idea  entered 
and  took  possession  of  his  disciples ;  slowly  the  real 
divinity  of  his  nature,  overspreading  the  human,  en- 
throned itself  in  their  minds.  This  wonderful  truth, 
that  he  is  now  and  forever  the  centre,  the  life  of  the 
Church,  has  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  his  fol- 
lowers in  all  ages.  It  is  this  that  lifts  him  above  the 
prophets  of  the  Old  Testament ;  it  is  this  that  makes 
the  apostles  of  the  !N'ew  his  mouth-piece — his  expo- 
nents. Moses  is  the  most  remarkable  prophet  of  the 
previous  ages.  Inspired  of  God,  he  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  system  that  was  to  abide  till  Christ  came. 
But  Moses  is  imperfect ;  no  where  does  he  assume 
such  authority;  he  originates  nothing  permanent ;  he 
speaks  what  has  been  given  to  him  ;  now  elevated  by 
hope,  and  then  depressed  by  doubt,  he  fails  at  last  to 
enter  Canaan.  Moses  is  but  a  servant,  and  Christ  the 
Son  and  heir.  Moses  is  a  star  shining  by  reflected 
light;  Christ  is  the  Sun,  the  light  of  the  world.  Moses 
foretold  his  coming  and  in  spirit  sat  at  his  feet  and 
listened  to  his  voice,  as  did  Al)rahani  before  him,  and 
1» 


98  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

all  the  prophets  after  him.  Christ  is  more  than  a 
prophet;  he  is  the  central  iigure  of  all  prophecy  since 
the  first  promise  to  Adam  and  down  to  the  last  chap- 
ter of  the  Revelation,  where  he  says,  "I,  Jesns,  have 
sent  mine  angel  to  testify  of  these  things."  The  place 
that  he  assumes  as  the  center  of  Christianity  and  the 
head  of  this  spiritual  kingdom  Avas  prepared  in  the 
ages  for  him ;  he  fits  into  it  as  natnrally  and  as  neces- 
sarily as  the  sun  does  into  the  center  of  our  planetary 
system.  He  takes  the  throne  not  only  as  one  born  to 
it,  but  intrinsically  fitted  for  it,  and  as  the  only  one  in 
the  universe  capacitated  for  it.  'No  one  rises  to  dis- 
pute it;  no  one  stands  a  moment  in  comparison  with 
him,  the  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings. 

And  now,  having  thus  briefly  reviewed  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  Christ's  teachings,  the  question, 
Avhich  puzzled  his  Jewish  hearers,  returns  to  us: 
"Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom?"  It  is  a  ques- 
tion which  naturalists  and  unbelievers  are  bound  to 
answer  on  their  own  principles.  On  their  principles 
let  us  see  if  it  can  be  answered.  There  are  but  three 
sources  from  which  Jesus,  according  to  their  ideas, 
could  have  derived  it.  The  first  is  the  Grecian  phil- 
osophy. There  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  that  ho 
ever  read  a  Greek  book  or  had  the  least  acquaintance 
personally  with  a  line  of  this  philosophy.  He  is  in 
no  accepted  sense  a  philoso|)her.  In  all  his  teachings 
there  is  not  a  word  that  betrays  the  least  approxima- 
tion to  Grecian  culture.  His  thoughts,  his  doctrines, 
are  heaven  high  above  their  finest  intellects.  This 
supposition  is  simply  incredible,  far  more  incredible 
than  the  assertion  that  an  ignorant  Hottentot,  born  in 
kraal,   and  without  a  particle  of  instruction,  should 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  99 


have  written  IN^ewton's  Principia.  The  second  source 
of  knowledge  is  the  Jewish  or  rabbinical  schools  of 
learning.  But  the  very  question  of  the  text  and  the 
previous  life  of  Jesus  proves  that  he  never  had  been  a 
scholar  under  these  teachers.  Besides,  how  came  it 
tiiat,  instead  of  following  their  lines  of  thought,  he 
soars  far  out  of  their  sight,  that  he  condemns  them, 
and  dashes  their  whole  method  of  interpretation  to 
pieces?  How  comes  it  that  he  alone  stands  forth  as 
their  antagonist,  and  sweeps  away  all  their  traditions 
and  all  their  cunning  sophistries  with  a  single  sen- 
tence ?  You  might  as  well  say  that  light  is  the  pro- 
duct of  darkness,  truth  of  error,  power  of  weakness, 
knowledge  of  superstition  and  skepticism,  as  that 
rabbis  and  Sadducees  taught  Jesus  things  they  them- 
selves knew  not.     The  mystery  remains. 

Well,  then  he  learned  his  wisdom  from  the  Old 
Testament,  for  this  is  the  only  remaining  source. 
Doubtless  he  had  studied  this  inspired  volume,  and  so 
had  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  most  intellig-ent 
Jews  in  all  ages  since  it  was  written.  But  how  came 
it  that  he  alone  of  all  its  students  penetrates  at  once 
to  its  essence,  compasses  the  divine  mind  and  method 
of  its  author,  separates  the  permanent  from  the  tran- 
sient, reveals  conceptions  of  the  kingdom  of  God  un- 
known to  others,  and  out  of  the  prophecies  brings 
forth  the  true  idea  of  Messiah,  and  then  presents  him- 
self as  that  Messiah  and  the  fultillment  of  all  that  was 
preparative  and  educational  and  typical  in  the  law 
and  prophets  ?  This  question  can  no  more  be  an- 
swered on  natural  principles  than  the  others ;  it  can 
only  be  answered  in  part  by  making  nature  herself 
supernatural. 


100  SERMONS   ON    THE 

But,  leaving  the  naturalist  to  his  incredible  hypoth- 
esis and  his  infantile  skepticism,  let  ns  change  our 
question.  Let  us  ascend  to  the  position  of  those  who 
helieve  in  inspiration,  and  who  will  at  once  sa}'  Jesus 
was  unquestionably  inspired  of  God.  No  man  could 
stand  on  such  a  height  of  knowledge  and  do  such 
mighty  works  unless  God  was  with  him.  Here,  then, 
we  are  in  another  region  ;  the  atmosphere  is  clear,  and 
the  sunlight  falls  all  around  us,  and  illumines  this  new 
and  wondrous  life.  There  is  no  imposture,  there  is  no 
self-deception,  there  is  no  mistake  in  all  that  this  in- 
spired one  utters.  Now,  then,  our  question  assumes 
another  form.  Is  this  merely  a  prophet,  inspired  like 
any  other  prophet  or  apostle  to  reveal  the  will  of  God, 
or  is  he  organically  distinct  and  different  from  all 
who  before  or  since  have  spoken  truly  in  the  name  of 
God?  In  order  to  settle  this  question,  I  ask  you  to 
go  over  the  characteristics  of  Christ's  teachings,  lay- 
ing aside  all  preconceptions  ;  then  consider  the  nature 
arid  character  of  the  assumptions  respecting  himself 
and  the  position  which  he  holds  in  relation  to  God 
and  man,  and  then  candidly  answer  whether  there  is 
any  inspired  prophet  or  apostle  who  ever  did  teach  as 
he  taught,  Avhether  there  ever  was  a  mere  created 
being  that  did  or  could  justly  assume  to  be  what  he 
assumes  to  be?  Assumption  with  him  is  fact;  and 
what  he  assumes  to  be  and  to  do  in  this  new  spiritual 
kingdom  involves  every  attribute  of  the  divine  nature, 
natural  and  moral.  He  assumes  functions  that  neces- 
sarily involve  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  omnisci- 
ence, omnipresence  and  omnipotence,  self-existence. 
"What  answer  then  will  you,  must  you  give  to  the 
question,   Whence  has  he  this  wisdom  ?     What    but 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST,  101 


this:  He  organically  is  unlike  all  other  beings. 
What  answer  but  that  which  Joliu  gives:  "In  the 
beginning  was  the  word,  and  the  word  was  with  God, 
and  the  word  was  God."  In  hiui  was  life,  and  the 
life  was  the  light  of  man.  lie  is  both  God  and  man. 
He  is  in  our  nature  to  suffer;  he  is  divine  to  make 
that  suffering  salvation.  In  him  as  its  center,  Chris- 
tianity is  perfect — the  highest  wisdom  of  God.  In 
him  I  see  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the 
express  image  of  his  person.  Here  stood  the  apostles, 
and  this  was  the  inspiration  of  their  preaching: 
"Christ  in  them  the  hope  of  glory."  Here  has  stood 
and  still  stands  the  church  which  Jesus  bought 
with  his  blood  and  redeemed  by  his  spirit.  Here 
to-day  we  stand  on  the  foundation  of  prophets  and 
apostles,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone. I  come  to  this  liedeemer  with  all  my  most 
precious  interests,  and  commit  them  into  his  hands. 
I  would  not  commit  my  immortal  soul  to  seraphic 
cherubs.  I  come  to  him  a  sinner,  and  he  forgives  my 
sins.  I  come  to  him  in  sorrow,  and  he  sends  me  the 
Comforter.  I  come  to  him  in  temptation,  perplexity, 
and  weakness ;  he  strengthens  and  guides  me  into  the 
paths  of  righteousness  and  peace.  I  come  to  him 
when  the  cold  sweat  of  death  is  on  my  brow,  and 
heart  and  flesh  fail  me,  and  he  gently  puts  his  arm 
beneath  and  opens  the  gates  of  immc^rtality  for  me  to 
enter.  O  Christ,  my  suffering  and  ascended  Lord ! 
Ave  praise  thee,  we  trust  thee,  we  hope  to  worship  thee 
on  the  sea  of  glass  as  our  Incarnate  Saviour  and  Ke- 
deemer  for  ever  and  ever. 


102  SERMONS   ON    THE 


VI. 


JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. 

^'And  he  confessed,  and  denied  7iot:  but  confessed,  I  am 
not  the  Christ.  And  they  asked  him,  What  then  ?  Art 
thou  EUas  ?  And  he  saith,  I  am  not.  Art  thou  that 
Prophet  ?  And  he  answered,  No.  Then  said  they  unto 
him.  Who  art  thou  ?  that  loe  may  give  an  answer  to  them 
that  sent  us :  What  say  est  thou  of  thyself?  He  said,  I  am 
the  VOICE  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  3Iake  straight 
the  loay  of  the  Lord,  as  said  the  Prophet  Esaias." — John 
i,  20,  24. 

"We  have  come  now  to  the  last  and  greatest  prophet 
of  the  Hebrews.  Foretold  in  prophecy,  born  snper- 
natnrally,  out  of  due  time,  antedating,  by  some  six 
months,  the  birth  of  our  Lord.  At  the  ripe  age  of 
thirtj''  3^ears,  he  suddenly,  and  for  a  brief  period,  be- 
comes the  central  figure  on  which  all  eyes  are  fixed  ; 
as  a  flaming  star,  he  appears  above  the  horizon  fore- 
telling the  dawn,  and  then  is  lost  in  the  overwhelm- 
ing splendors  of  the  sun.  His  early  training  corres- 
ponds with  the  great  work  he  is  to  perform.  His  par- 
ents were  of  the  priestly  race — among  the  most  de- 
vout of  those  who  prayed  and  waited  for  the  coming 
of  Messiah  ;  their  minds  were  specially  informed  and 
elevated  by  the  supernatural  circumstances  and  influ- 
ences attending  the  birth  of  this  child.  They  com- 
prehended the  exalted  position  he  was  to  occupy.    He 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  103 

was  not  to  succeed  Lis  father  in  the  priestly  office.  It 
was  his  nobler  destiu}^  to  be  the  Prophet  of  the  High- 
est; to  announce  the  coming  of  Him  who  is  to  be  the 
High  Priest  of  the  world.  Under  such  parents  his 
earl}'  culture  corresponds  with  the  peculiar  office  he  is 
to  fill.  His  mind  is  early  imbued  with  the  sublime 
truths  of  religion.  Destined  in  prophecy  to  be  a  Naz- 
arite,  he  is  trained  to  self-control  and  the  sternest  self- 
denial.  He  is  not  to  be  a  man  of  tlie  world;  it  is  not 
for  him  to  illustrate  in  the  social  relations,  as  the  head 
of  a  familj',  the  virtues  of  religion.  He  is  to  be  a  man 
by  himself;  to  fulfill  an  office  solitary  and  unique. 
As  his  mind  matures,  he  enters  into  the  sphere  of 
those  supernatural  ideas  which  filled  the  souls  of  his 
parents.  He  comprehends  his  destiny ;  his  heart  re- 
sponds to  it.  He  takes  on  him  naturally  the  investi- 
ture of  this  sublime  office.  His  whole  character  de- 
velopes  in  harmony  with  it.  This  family  is  not  like 
other  families.  It  is  the  highest  ty^-e  of  intense 
Hebrew  tliought  and  feeling.  Father,  mother,  son, 
live  in  a  world  of  loftiest  spirituality.  Their  prayers, 
their  praises,  their  thinking,  their  fellowship,  their 
lives,  are  exalted  by  a  divine  enthusiasm,  of  which  the 
Messiah  and  this,  his  Prophet,  are  the  perpetual  inspir- 
ation. They  live  amidst  the  opening  glories  of  the 
'New  Dispensation.  Under  these  influences  the  child 
grows  to  manhood.  Then,  one  by  one,  in  all  proba- 
bilitj',  these  aged  parents  pass  to  their  home  in  heaven. 
Their  house,  his  home,  is  desolate.  No  domestic  ties 
bind  him  to  the  hearthstone.  His  work  is  not  among 
the  ordinary  avocations  of  men.  Society  has  no  charms 
for  him.  AVliere  shall  he  abide  until  the  time  comes 
for  him  to  enter  upon  the  high  office  to  which  he  is 


104  SERMONS    ON    THE 

destined  ?  Leaving  the  town  of  Jutta,  where  it  is  sup- 
posed Zacharias  dwelt,  a  few  hours'  walk  brings  you 
to  the  summit  of  the  limestone  ridge  which,  like  a 
huge  backbone,  runs  along  the  center  of  Palestine, 
from  the  desert  on  the  south  to  the  great  plains  of  Es- 
draelon  on  the  north.  From  this  point  you  look  down 
eastward  on  the  mountains  of  Moab ;  and  this  side  of 
them,  sleeping  in  quiet  unconsciousness  of  that  terrible 
storm  of  lire  which  once  swept  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
from  existence,  is  the  Dead  Sea.  As  you  descend  to- 
wards this  spot,  vegetation  grows  more  scanty ;  the 
white  rocks  push  themselves  up  more  boldly  ;  the  ra- 
vines grow  deeper;  eaves  pierce  the  rocks  in  all  direc- 
tions ;  and  the  whole  scene  changes  to  one  of  weird 
and  rugged  desolation.  Here  David  dwelt  in  these 
caves  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  Saul.  Here  Jesus 
was  led  by  the  spirit  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil.  In 
portions  of  this  region  dwelt  the  ascetic  Essenes;  and 
hither  John  retired  from  the  world  to  await  the  hour 
for  action — wrapped  in  a  robe  of  camel's  hair,  living  on 
the  simple  diet  supplied  by  nature,  he  communed  with 
God,  and  studied  the  prophecies  which  respected  the 
Messiah  and  himself,  his  forerunner.  ISTor  are  we  to 
suppose  that  this  wilderness  life  was  without  its  effect 
in  assisting  to  form  him  for  his  work.  There  are 
some  souls  that  grow  deeper  and  stronger  for  action, 
when  the  lit  time  comes,  in  comparative  solitude. 
Amid  the  quiet  of  his  forty  years'  exile,  Moses  acquired 
a  special  preparation  for  leadership.  Cromwell,  in  his 
country  home,  learned  to  think  broadly  ;  nourished  that 
sturdy  independence  which  lifted  him  above  the  whole 
line  of  British  rulers,  as  the  man  for  his  age.  Wash- 
ington, at  Mount  Vernon,  developed  a  strength  of  judg- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  105 

ment  and  power  of  command  he  would  never  have 
gained  amidst  the  excitement  of  cities.  Men  who  are 
to  act  great  parts  in  the  world  need  sometimes  to 
isolate  themselves,  to  let  their  individual  nature  grow 
in  its  fullness,  to  stand  face  to  face  with  God,  with  his 
works,  and  with  themselves.  Trees  in  the  forest  grow 
straight,  tall,  and  almost  branchless,  and  when  you  cut 
down  their  surroundings  a  fresh  breeze  will  level 
them.  But  the  trees  that  grow  separate,  root  them- 
selves deeper,  develope  the  true  fullness  and  richness 
of  their  life ;  while  the  hurricane  is  hardly  strong 
enough  to  tear  them  from  their  moorings.  Society 
refines  and  rounds  oti:'  the  rough  peculiarities  of  men 
and  assimilates  them  in  character  and  manners;  while 
its  superficial  excitements  often  destroy  with  individ- 
uality the  very  power  of  profound  thought.  Away 
from  the  masses,  men  develope  a  ti'uer  individuality 
and  a  strength  of  independence,  which  prepares  them 
to  lead  and  elevate  their  fellow-men — provided  with 
this  tliere  is  ever  associated  the  needful  stimulants  to 
thought — the  presence  of  great  objects  adapted  to  call 
out  their  powers.  As  a  discipline  for  action  in  society 
retirement  has  its  uses.  John,  under  its  influence, 
unquestionably  developed  these  remarkable  traits 
which  fitted  him  for  his  work.  For  remember  he  was 
no  mere  ascetic,  designing  to  spend  his  life  in  solitude 
and  waste  his  powers  in  doing  nothing.  lie  had  a 
grand  object  before  him  ;  a  great  work  for  which  he 
was  preparing.  This  counteracted  the  otlierwise  de- 
basing influence  of  inaction.  lie  was  in  training  for 
his  work.  This  fired  his  enthusiasm  ;  this  exalted  his 
whole  being. 

And  now  the  time  has  come.     The  season  of  prep- 


106  SERMONS    ON   THE 

aratioii  is  past;  the  hour  for  action  is  at  hand.  "  The 
word  of  God  came  unto  John  the  son  of  Zacharias  in 
the  wilderness."  The  Spirit  of  God  that  had  dwelt 
Math  him  and  formed  him  for  his  Avork  now  moves 
him  to  go  forth  among  men.  God  holds  the  heart  in 
his  hand.  When  he  calls  his  servants  to  do  some 
special  and  great  work  for  him — a  work  against  which 
nature  rebels — he  not  onl}^  orders  his  providence  so  as 
to  lead  in  this  direction,  but  gives  secret  impulses  to 
the  soul  itself.  Then  men  feel  "  woe  is  me  if  I  preach 
not  the  gospel."  The  world  offers  them  its  prizes  :  a 
thousand  earthly  forces  draw  them  away;  still  the 
deeper  impulse,  the  divine  force  in  the  soul,  moves 
them  into  the  path  chosen  of  God.  So  Paul,  Chrysos- 
tom,  Augustine,  Bernard,  Luther,  Whitfield,  and  thou- 
sands more,  abandoning  the  brightest  worldlj^  pros- 
pects, have  obeyed  this  heavenly  voice,  and  for  Christ 
and  his  kingdom  have  preached  and  prayed  and 
lived  a  consecrated  life.  To  John  this  word  came 
with  irresistible  j^ower.  What  conflicts  he  endured  ! 
Whether  his  sensitive  nature  shrank  from  the  path  bo- 
fore  him,  we  know  not.  Only  this  we  know,  he  obeyed. 
The  prophet  power  was  upon  him ;  like  his  great  pro- 
toty[>e,  Elijah,  amid  the  solitudes  of  Sinai,  when  he 
heard  the  still  small  voice,  he  listened,  he  obej-ed.  He 
takes  his  j^lace  at  once  as  God's  commissioned  repre- 
sentative, and  fulfills  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  "  the 
voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord." 

The  river  Jordan  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable, 
both  for  its  liistorical  associations  and  its  peculiar 
character,  in  the  world.  Kising  at  the  foot  of  Leba- 
non on  the  north  in  a  full  stream,  it  passes  through 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  107 


the  Lake  of  Geunesareth,  and  descending,  in  a  course  of 
less  than  two  hundred  miles,  two  thousand  feet,  it  loses 
itself  in  the  mephitic  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea.     Across 
its  waters,  since  the  time  of  Joshua,  armies  had  passed. 
No  cities,  nor  towns,  rose  on  its  lone  banks ;  but  the 
hills  on  either  side  were  crowned  with  villages  and 
towns,  in  which  dwelt  a  vast  population.     Along  its 
western  side  ran  the  great  higliway  from  Galilee  to 
Jerusalem,  along  which  multitudes  journeyed  to  at- 
tend the  great  feasts.     We  can  not  do  justice  to  the 
truthfulness  of  this  narrative,  without  attempting  to 
imagine  the  scene.     The  feast  of  the  Passover  is  near. 
In  companies  of  hundreds,  in  companies  of  thousands, 
the  devout  Israelites  are  moving  to  Jerusalem.     The 
sun  is  in  the  west ;  the  day's  march  is  over,  and  en- 
camped not  far  from  Jericho,  the  host,  singing  the 
songs  of  Zion,  are  preparing  for  rest.     Issuing  from 
his  desert  home  the  prophet  appears   among  them. 
His  peculiar  garb  arrests  a  momentary  attention,  but  it 
was  too  common  then,  as  it  is  in  that  section  at  this  day, 
to  awaken  more  than  a  transient  interest.    Reaching  a 
suitable  position,  where  all  could  readily  gather  around 
him,  he  commences  his  discourse.    His  voice  rings  full 
and  clear,  and  startles  the  most  stupid.     At  once  all 
other  thoughts  and  interests  are  forgotten.    Silently,  in 
groups,  they  move  near  the  speaker.     His  rapt  utter- 
ance, his   words  of  burning  intensity,   his  thoughts, 
grand  and   majestic,  convince  them  that  no  common 
entiiusiast  is  before  them.     Curious,  at  first,  with  half- 
awakened  minds,  they  listen.     Now  he  strikes  an  an- 
swering chord ;  the  heart-beat  quickens,  the  eye  flashes ; 
he  dwells  upon  their  sublime  history  ;  he  paints  the 
scenes  of   the  past;   prophet  after   prophet  marches 


108  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

before  him  in  long  procession  ;  their  victories  and  their 
captivities  ring  out  in  triumph  or  wail  in  sadness  ; 
then  he  describes  the  sins  of  the  people,  their  blind- 
ness, their  ingratitude,  their  hypocrisy,  in  words  of 
terrible  severity  ;  he  preaches  the  necessity  of  refor- 
mation and  repentance,  and  every  conscience  answers, 
Amen.  Then,  rising  to  a  sublime  hight,  he  dwells  on 
the  prophecies  of  Messiah  ;  step  by  step  he  advances, 
from  the  earliest  to  the  latest;  he  tells  them  how  un- 
changeable is  God ;  how  sure  his  promises  ;  how  all 
along  from  the  call  of  Abraham  he  had  chosen  and 
trained  that  nation  for  the  manifestation  of  this  glori- 
ous personage;  how  their  captivities  and  conflicts 
were  only  preparations  for  this  event ;  and  then,  when 
he  has  brought  their  whole  souls  into  sympathy  with 
this  great  expectation,  he  flashes  upon  their  astonished 
minds  the  very  thought  which  leaps  to  every  lip  as  he 
utters  it :  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  !  Messiah 
is  born!  Messiah  is  to  ajjpear!  The  sun  is  gone 
down ;  they  heed  it  not ;  darkness  spreads  its  raven 
wing  over  them,  but  they  know  it  not ;  and  then  when 
the  last  words  have  been  spoken,  they  linger  and  then 
slowly  retire,  not  to  sleep,  but  to  think  over  the  glori- 
ous announcement — Christ's  messenger  has  come  ! 
Henceforth  John,  the  last,  is  the  greatest  of  Hebrew 
prophets.  As  on  the  morrow  they  journey  to  Jerusa- 
lem, they  hear  the  news  of  this  new  and  wonderful 
prophet.  Among  the  myriads  that  gather  at  Jerusalem, 
it  flies  from  lip  to  lip — the  prophet  of  the  Lord  !  Then 
men  begin  to  recall  the  memories  of  thirty  years  be- 
fore— Zacharias  and  the  angel  in  the  temple  and  the 
supernatural  birth  of  John.  And  soon  the  roads  to 
the  Jordan  are  croAvded  with  all  classes,  eager  to  hear 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  109 

these  words  of  the  Lord — this  grand  prelude  to  the 
grander  scene.  All  Jerusalem  and  Judea  and  the 
region  round  about  ilock  to  listen. 

I  now  request  your  attention,  iirst,  to  the  special 
mission  of"  this  prophet,  and,  second,  to  his  character 
as  fitting  him  to  perform  this  mission.  Four  hundred 
years  had  passed  since  Malachi,  the  last  prophet,  had 
died.  The  words  which  closed  the  Old  Testament 
scriptures  predicted  the  coming  of  Messiah  and  his 
messenger,  John.  This  intermission  of  prophetic 
teachers  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  lesson 
taught  by  the  captivity  of  the  unity  and  sovereignty 
of  Jehovah  had  taken  full  possession  of  the  nation. 
The  establishment  of  synagogues,  in  large  numbers, 
all  over  the  land,  secured  to  the  people  regular  Sab- 
bath worship  and  instruction  in  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves. The  necessity  for  the  order  of  prophets  was 
by  this  fact  removed,  and  God,  in  the  gift  of  spiritual 
powers,  never  employs  the  supernatural  when  natural 
agencies  are  sufticient  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
objects.  Meanwhile  the  nation  has  flourished.  Amidst 
some  terrible  scenes  it  has  repeatedly  asserted  its  true 
nationality  and  practical  independence.  But  now  the 
total  destruction  of  that  nationality  seemed  imminent. 
Home,  like  a  mighty  anaconda,  had  wound  its  folds 
around  the  life  of  tiie  state  and  gradually  tightened 
them,  crushing  it  out.  Pontius  Pilate  sat  as  Rome's 
representative  in  Jerusalem;  Ilerod  Antipas  in  Galilee, 
and  Philii)  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  held  their  otiices 
at  the  will  of  the  Emperor.  The  nation  was  divided; 
the  priestly  functions  were  made  the  prices  of  submis- 
sion to  the  ruling  power.  The  al^omination  of  deso- 
lation was  already  in  the  courts  ot  the  temple.     The 


110  SERMONS   ON    THE 

help  of  man  was  vain.  The  nation,  writhing,  uneasy, 
longing  for  deliverance,  waited  the  coming  of  a  Mes- 
siah, who  at  the  head  of  the  state  and  the  church 
should  hurl  the  Roman  from  the  throne  and  restore 
the  nation  to  the  splendor  of  its  ancient  reigns.  A 
prophet  issuing  from  the  wilderness  suddenly  presents 
himself  to  the  people.  Two  ideas  characterize  his 
preaching.  The  first  and  the  vital  point  was  the 
speedy  coming  of  Messiah.  Couched  under  the  sen- 
tence, "  The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  was  the  idea  of  a 
spiritual  dynasty,  a  heavenly  ruler,  a  true  theocratic 
state.  He  does  not  attempt  to  detine  this  kingdom. 
It  was  not  revealed  to  him  in  its  fullness.  It  belonged 
to  the  Messiah  himself  to  announce  the  plan  of  this 
kingdom.  John's  work  was  simply  that  of  prepara- 
tion. He  felt  he  knew  that  the  functions  of  the  Mes- 
siah were  to  be  grandly  spiritual  ;  that  he  was  to  re- 
store the  true  Avorship  in  the  hearts  of  the  people ; 
that  he  was  to  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people, 
and  punish  with  summary  destruction  all  who  opposed 
his  reign.  But  that  he  had  been  led  up  to  the  Chris- 
tian stand-point  and  saw  the  church  as  a  power  out- 
side of  and  independent  of  the  state,  we  have  no  reason 
to  suppose.  He  spake  of  the  Messiah  as  a  mighty 
king  who  would  sift  the  nation  of  its  impure  and  evil 
elements,  and  gather  about  him  the  true  worshipers 
of  God.  But  he  nowhere  intimates  the  destruction  of 
the  state  itself.  In  this  respect,  greatest  of  prophets 
though  he  was,  the  least  of  the  Christian  host  is  greater 
than  he.  He  did  no  miracles  ;  for  they  were  not  nec- 
essary to  the  success  of  his  work.  It  was  not  for  him 
to  unfold  and  establish  the  new  kingdom,  but  to  pre- 
pare  for  its   coming.     Isaiah's  description  of  him  as 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  Ill 


"the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wihlerness,  prepare  ye 
the  way  of  the  Lord,"  characterizes  hiiu  and  his  work 
with  wonderful  exactness.     He  announces  the  coming 
Messiah.     That  voice,  ringing  out  from  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan  over  the  hills  of  Judea,  touched  the  chords 
of  national  feeling,  heightened  expectation,  stimulated 
millions  to  thought,  quickened  the  spirit  of  prayer 
and  hope  in  the  devout,  and  thus  prepared  the  imme- 
diate coming  of  the  Anointed  Son  of  God.     Such  is 
the  first  and  most  vital  fact  in  his  preaching.     The 
second  characteristic  of  his  preaching  was  the  injunc- 
tion of  something  to  be  done  by  the  people  in  order  to 
prepare  themselves  for  the  advent  of  Messiah.     He 
knows  well  their  condition.     There  is  a  vast  amount 
of  outward  religion,  and  very  little  practical  religion. 
Like  parrots  they  repeated  prayers  at  the  corners  of 
the  streets,  but  the  heart  was    untouched  by  divine 
love.     Formalism  and  traditionalism  had  usurped  the 
throne  of  God   in    them.     Can    darkness  dwell  with 
light?     Will  impurity  and  pride  receive  the  holy  Mes- 
siah ?    He  treats  the  assumption  of  multitudes,  that  as 
children  of  Abraham  they  were  specially  sacred,  with 
most  magniiicent  scorn.     I  say  unto  you,  that  of  these 
stones  God  can  raise  up  children  to  Abraham.     The 
pride,  the  hypocrisy,  the  worldliness  of  the  Pharisee 
and  Sadducee  he  denounces  with    the  most  terrible 
invective.     He  treats  them  all,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  as  impure  ;  he  exhorts  them  to  repentance  and 
a  hearty  reformation.     He  strikes  right  at  their  sins, 
as  unlitting  them  to  enter  this  kingdom  of  heaven. 
He  virtually  excommunicates  the  whole  nation,  and 
declares  that  repentance,  a  new  heart,  a  new  life,  was 


112  SERMONS   ON    THE 

essential  to  enable  them  to  become  followers  of  Mes- 
siah and  true  children  of  God. 

The  Jews  had  long  been  familiar  with  the  use  of 
water  as  a  symbol  of  purification.  Sprinklings,  and 
pourings,  and  washings,  were  prescribed  in  the  Mosaic 
law  as  parts  of  ceremonial  purilication,  and  every  pros- 
elyte received  into  the  church  from  other  nations  was 
baptized  to  signify  his  repentance,  his  putting  on  a 
new  life,  his  consecration  to  the  pure  service  of  Jeho- 
vah. And  so  John,  treating  this  whole  people  as  for- 
eigners, baptized  them  as  penitents,  about  to  put  on  a 
new  life  and  be  converted  to  the  service  of  Messiah. 
It  was  not  Christian  baptism.  They  w^ere  not  bap- 
tized into  the  faith  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost.  It  was  Jewish  baptism  for  uncleanness,  with 
the  superadded  idea  of  their  faith  in  a  Messiah  soon 
to  appear.  His  preaching  was  eminently  practical. 
He  did  not  tell  them  to  become  ascetics,  to  go  out  of 
the  world ;  but  in  the  world  to  be  faithful.  To  the 
soldiers  he  said.  Do  violence  to  no  man,  neither  accuse 
any  falsely,  and  be  content  with  your  wages.  To  the 
publicans  he  said,  Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is 
appointed  you.  To  others  he  enjoined  liberality  and 
kindness.  He  that  hath  two  coats,,  let  him  impart  to 
him  that  hath  none ;  and  he  that  hath  much,  let  him 
do  likewise.  And  thus  unveiling  sin,  denouncing 
wrath  to  come  on  the  impenitent,  kindly  guiding  the 
sincere  inquirers  into  the  path  of  dut}^,  he  roused  and 
instructed  the  nation  and  lifted  up  before  them  the 
banner  of  a  coming  Messiah.  Such  was  the  work  of 
this  great  prophet.  Such  the  mission  of  preparation 
he  accomplished. 

Let  ud  consider  now  the  man  and  his  character.    For 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  113 

ill  the  election  of  God  tlicrc  is  usually  a  real  harmony 
and  fitness  between  the  agent  he  employs  and  the 
work  to  be  accomplished.  And  this  man  was  trained 
and  fitted  by  his  peculiar  character  to  give  a  decided 
impulse  to  the  mind  of  the  nation  in  preparing  the 
way  for  the  coming  of  Jesus.  You  will  notice  at  once 
his  marked  independence  and  intense  individuality- 
He  stands  out  clear,  well-defined,  unique  ;  not  more 
distinct  and  separate  in  his  dress  and  mode  of  life  than 
in  his  individual  character.  lie  is  no  copy  of  other 
men.  The  only  child  in  his  father's  family,  he  is  sub- 
ject there  to  a  peculiar  discipline.  Passing  into  the 
wilderness,  communing  witli  God,  conversing  witli  the 
minds  of  prophets,  unrestrained  and  unaffected  by  the 
artificial  influences  of  society,  Ids  original  traits  de- 
veloped strongly  and  barmoniously.  Simple  in  his 
numner  of  life,  he  felt  not  the  want  of  wealth  and 
cared  nothing  for  it.  With  his  faith  rooted  in  God 
and  his  soul  nourished  by  the  sublimest  truth,  he  was 
utterly-  indittcrent  to  station  or  power.  Pleasure 
had  no  attractions  for  hiin.  The  opinions  of  men 
neither  excited  nor  influenced  him.  Self-contained  in 
the  mastery  of  his  own  passions,  and  the  deep  convic- 
tions which  possessed  him,  he  moved  in  a  sphere  of 
his  own.  Just  such  a  man  was  needed  at  this  time  to 
perform  this  work:  a  man  who  sympatliized  with 
neither  Pharisee  nor  Sadducee,  with  neither  Essene  nor 
Komaii — a  man  who,  nurtured  on  the  simple  truth  of 
Scripture,  should  see  through  all  the  falsities  and 
hypocrisies  of  the  times,  and,  rising  above  them  all, 
should  proclaim  that  truth  in  its  application  to  the 
want  of  the  age. 
10 


114  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

Connected  witli  this  is  the  singleness  of  his  purpose 
and  the  intense  enthusiasm  with  which  he  pi'oseeut^s 
his  work.  One  grand  idea  possesses  him — the  mani- 
festation of  Jesus  Christ  to  IsraeL  To  make  this 
tlionght  a  living,  operative  power  in  the  minds  of  the 
people,  he  bends  all  his  energies.  He  turns  not  aside 
even  to  visit  Jerusalem;  he  enters  into  no  discussions 
of  the  minor  opinions  that  divide  the  nation.  The 
sects,  the  divisions  are  nothing  to  him;  for  Christ  is 
coming,  whose  kingdom-  is  to  absorb  all  others,  and  in 
whose  light  all  men  are  to  see  higher  truths.  Here  is 
one  secret  of  his  power.  Men  who  scatter  their  eftbrts 
over  a  variety  of  objects  seldom  succeed  in  any  one. 
Life  is  too  short  and  the  mind  of  man  too  limited  in 
its  powers  to  admit  of  this.  And  John,  with  a  true 
philosophy,  has  but  one  purpose,  and  to  effect  this  he 
gives  himself  with  a  divine  enthusiasm.  Day  by  day, 
for  weeks,  for  months,  men  crowed  around  him.  He 
preaches,  he  prays,  he  baptizes.  'No  man  can  number 
the  multitudes  that  from  all  parts  of  Palestine  flocked 
to  see  and  hear  this  prophet.  His  work  was  short,  but 
it  was  fully  accomplished.  The  voice  from  the  wil- 
derness ceased  not  its  call  to  repentance  until  Christ 
himself  had  entered  upon  his  ministry  and  the  night 
was  past. 

Springing  out  of  this  independence  and  this  intense 
unity  of  purpose  was  a  third  characteristic,  his  bold- 
ness. In  his  character  of  prophet  he  meets  all  men 
^vith  the  same  imperturbed  and  imperturbable  s[»irit. 
Proud  rabbis  and  priests  are  there  with  ecclesiastical 
power  in  their  hands  to  try  and  condemn  him  when 
the  time  shall  come.  Pharisees  are  there  with  their 
phylacteries  and  ritualistic  holiness  on  their  foreheads. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  115 


Sadducees  are  there  witli  their  doubts  and  rationalistic 
theories.  He  sees  through  them  all  ;  he  holds  up  the 
mirror  to  their  faces  ;  he  hurls  upon  them  the  most 
terrible  rebukes.  Herod  Antipas,  the  seducer  of 
Herodias,  and  then  her  incestuous  husband,  can  not 
escape  him.  His  palace  Avails  are  not  thick  enough 
to  shut  out  the  voice  of  this  prophet  of  the  Lord  as  it 
accuses  him  of  sin  and  crime.  Fearing  the  face  of  no 
man,  he  hesitates  not  to  uncover  the  individual  and 
national  corruption  which  is  preparing  the  nation  for 
its  doom.  The  ax  is  already  laid  at  the  root  of  the 
tree,  and  if  repentance  follows  not,  and  good  fruit  be 
not  speedily  borne,  there  is  a  power  in  reserve  ap- 
pointed of  God  to  cut  it  down, 

A  fourth  characteristic  of  John  is  the  spirit  of  self- 
abnegation  which  he  evinced.  This  is  most  extraor- 
dinary. Men  of  great  enthusiasm,  of  intense  purpose, 
of  great  power  over  the  masses,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, in  most  cases  become  intent  on  self-aggran- 
dizement. They  may  begin  as  reformers,  but  they 
end  as  originators  of  policies  and  schemes  of  which 
they  are  to  be  the  recognized  head.  In  the  state  they 
form  parties;  in  the  church  sects,  or  societies,  or 
schools,  the  purpose  in  every  case  being  to  bolster  up 
their  power  or  perpetuate  their  i)rinciplcs.  Men  nat- 
urally cling  to  power;  power  while  they  live,  and 
power  in  some  form  which  is  to  survive  and  perpet- 
uate them  when  they  are  dead.  But  John  commenced 
his  ministry  on  the  one  fixed  principle  that  he  was  but 
the  messenger  of  one  greater  than  he ;  one  whose  shoe- 
latchet  he  was  not  worthy  to  unloose.  On  this  prin- 
ciple he  acted  consistently.  In  the  midst  of  his  most 
wonderful  triumphs,  as  a  preacher,  he  organized  no 


116  SERMONS   OX    THE 

society,  lie  founded  no  school  or  sect ;  for  that  which 
afterward  took  his  name  had  no  sympathy  with  his 
spirit  and  no  authority  from  him.  And  when  Christ 
appeared  there  he  pointed  him  out  to  the  assembled 
multitude.  He  was  the  one  who  was  to  baptize,  not 
with  water,  but  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  tire. 
Then  when  Christ  had  fairly  entered  upon  his  work, 
he  says  plainlj^  to  his  immediate  disciples,  jealous  for 
the  honor  of  their  master,  He  must  increase  and  I 
must  decrease.  And  thus,  his  work  accomplished,  he 
retires  practically  from  the  field.  He  is  notliing; 
Jesus  is  to  be  henceforth  all  in  all. 

The  last  grand  characteristic  of  this  second  Elijah 
is  sublime  faith  in  God  and  the  comins^  Messiah.  This 
is  the  root  of  all  his  peculiar  life;  this  the  source  of 
his  self-abnegation,  his  boldness,  his  enthusiasm,  his 
singleness  of  purpose,  his  holy  eloquence.  Faith  in 
God's  word  animated  his  whole  soul  and  made  him 
the  fit  forerunner  of  the  Messiah.  I  know  it  has  been 
that  even  he  wavered  in  his  faith  in  reference  to  Christ 
as  the  actual  Messiah ;  that  when  he  saw  that  Jesus 
did  not  begin  to  teach  a  visible  kingdom,  in  the  soli- 
tude of  his  prison,  his  faith,  for  a  time,  like  that  of  all 
other  men,  like  that  of  Elijah  when  he  fled  from  Aliab 
into  the  w-ilderness,  declined — and  then  he  sent  his 
disciples  to  Jesus  w'ith  the  inquiry,  "  Art  thon  he  that 
shonld  come,  or  look  we  for  another?"  But,  while  I 
would  not  arrogate  to  John  immunity  from  the 
weakness  incident  to  all  mere  humanity  here  in  the 
flesh,  yet  it  strikes  me  that  a  nobler,  a  better  explana- 
tion of  this  act  is  found  in  his  desire,  now^  that  he  is 
about  to  depart,  to  ground  his  disciples  themselves 
in  the  faith  which  sustained  his  own  soul ;  and  that  to 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  117 

do  this  he  took  occasion  to  send  tlieni  to  Jcsns  to  con- 
verse with  liim,  to  hear  his  instructions  and  witness 
liis  miracles,  and  tlius  enable  him  finall}'  to  abnegate 
all  authority  over  tliem  and  show  them  the  true  Mes- 
siah. This  course  is  all  in  harmony  with  liis  life ;  this 
vindicates  his  faith  ;  this  puts  the  seal  upon  the  liumil- 
ity  of  his  spirit,  and  consecrates  the  close  of  his  mis- 
sion with  an  act  of  rare  moral  heroism. 

And  now  w^e  come  to  the  sad  and  yet  fitting  close. 
His  work  is  done — the  noblest  work  of  all  the  proph- 
ets. Jesus  has  appeared.  It  is  not  for  him  to  be  uu 
apostle;  he  must  learn  the  secret  of  redemption  in  the 
world  of  light.  It  is  fitting  that  he,  like  many  of  his 
predecessors,  should  seal  his  faithfulness  by  a  martyr's 
death.  The  foul  Ilerodias,  like  another  Jezebel,  thirsts 
for  his  life;  and  the  weak  Ilerod,  tascinated  by  the 
dancing  of  Salome,  imbrues  his  hands  in  the  prophet's 
blood.  Oh,  you  sceptered  and  mitred  ones,  what  a 
terrible  account  is  yours  to  give  for  the  holocausts  of 
God's  saints  ye  have  slaughtered  ?  Oh  !  lust  and  ambi- 
tion, what  monsters  ye  have  begotten  !  Oh,  where  in 
this  earth  shall  faith  and  love  hold  the  scepter  of 
power,  and  right  and  might  be  joined  in  the  triumphal 
reign  of  our  king  Immanuel  ? 

Such  is  the  mission  and  the  character  of  John.  How 
grandly  fitting  it  was  that  such  a  prophet,  with  more 
than  the  boldness  and  eloquence  and  light  of  Elijah, 
should  close  the  long  and  splendid  array  of  Hebrew 
prophets  and  usher  in  the  Christian  dispensation  !  He 
is  not  a  human  product.  Unlike  the  mass  of  great 
leaders  in  history,  he  is  not  the  product  of  his  age ; 
he  stands  forth  unique  and  largely  antagonistic.  A 
supernatural   power   rests   upon    him,  and  lifts  him 


118.  SERMONS   ON    THE 

above  the  multitude.  The  voice  that  lie  utters  is  di- 
vine. Yet  aside  from  his  special  work  you  see  that 
he  is  still  a  Hebrew  prophet.  The  spirit  of  the  Mosaic 
law  breathes  in  him.  Compare  John  the  Baptist  with 
John  the  apostle.  What  an  immense,  I  had  almost 
said,  an  immeasurable  difference  !  What  makes  this 
difference?  Christ  the  Messiah  has  intervened.  John, 
the  greatest  prophet,  is  but  a  child  beside  John  the 
apostle.  Both  are  formed  and  inspired  by  the  same 
divine  Spirit.  But  one  is  of  the  law,  the  other  is  of 
the  gospel.  One  is  molded  and  trained  to  prepare  the 
way  for  Christ,  the  other  to  preach  the  new  kingdom 
of  light  and  love  already  come.  And  so  the  words  of 
Christ  ffnd  their  exDlanation,  "  The  least  in  the  kino;- 
dom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he." 

It  is  a  thought  to  be  ever  remembered,  that  the 
value  of  life  is  to  be  measured  by  deeds,  not  by  years. 
For  thirty  years  John  is  in  training;  his  work  occu- 
pies but  a  few  months.  Yet  what  a  value  attaches 
to  that  short  life  of  action  ?  Spencer,  Summerlield, 
Mills,  Mrs.  Kewell,  Young,  Hume,  Tyng,  die  in  the 
very  opening  of  their  manhood  and  womanhood ; 
what  myriads  even  of  Christians  live  to  three  score 
years,  whose  lives,  measured  by  deeds,  by  influence  for 
good  exerted,  can  compare  with  theirs  ?  Young  Chris- 
tian, dwelling  under  this  brighter  light  of  the  cross, 
gird  thyself  for  work  in  tlie  Master's  service.  Die, 
you  may,  early ;  but  die  with  the  harness  on  ;  let  the 
faith  of  this  Hebrew,  illuminated  by  the  words  of 
Jesus,  animate  you  to  lead  men  to  repentance.  Be 
bold,  be  single-hearted,  be  enthusiastic  in  the  great 
cause  you  have  espoused.    Pray  and  work  ;  work  and 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  119 

pray.  Tlic  night  coineth  ;  starless  and  dark  to  the 
sinner;  to  you,  if  faitliful,thc  harbinger  of  eternal  day. 
Nor  let  ns  forget  to-night  that  the  dispensation  of 
rites  and  forms  has  closed.  Now  a  free  gospel  calls  all 
men  to  repentance  and  faith,  offers  them  a  Kedeemer, 
opens  to  them  immortality.  Who  here  will  leave  this 
place  and  turn  him.self  to  the  world  and  make  up  his 
mind  to  live  and  die  a  gospel-hardened  sinner?  This 
morning  I  pled  with  you  by  the  compassion  of  Jesus 
to  consecrate  yourself  to  his  service.  To-night  I  hold 
up  before  you  the  illustrious  example  of  a  prophet 
who  had  not  your  light,  yet  lived  and  died  faithful , to 
the  truth  of  God.  By  all  the  blood  of  martyrs  and 
prophets  before  Christ  came ;  by  all  the  pains  and  sor- 
rows of  multitudes  of  Christian  souls  since  then  ;  by  the 
richer  blood  of  our  Great  High  Priest ;  by  the  won- 
drous light  ye  enjoy;  by  the  shortness  of  time  rush- 
ing by  and  the  shades  of  night  soon  to  gather  round 
you  ;  by  that  hour  when  you  shall  stand  before  Christ 
in  judgment;  by  all  the  pains  and  Avoes  and  harms  of 
a  sinful  life  lost  forever,  and  all  the  holiness  and  joy 
of  a  life  saved  forever,  I  intreat  you,  flee  from  the 
"wrath  to  come. 


120  SERMONS    OX    THE 


VII. 

THE    BAPTISM    OF    JESUS. 

^'■Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  unto  JoJin,  to  he 
baptized  of  him.  But  John  forbade  him,  saying,  I  have 
need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me?  And 
Jesus  answering,  said  unto  him,  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now  ; 
for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.  Then 
he  suffered  him.  And  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went 
up  straightu'ay  out  of  {or  from)  the  water,  and  lo !  the 
heavens  were  opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of 
God  descending  like  a  dove,  lighting  upon  him,  and,  lo! 
a.  voice  from,  heaven,  saying.  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in 
whom  I  well  pleased." — Matthew  iii,  13-17;  Mark  i, 
9-11 ;  Luke  iii,  21,  22  ;  John  i. 

John  lias  now  been  engaged  in  his  ministry  of  prep- 
aration for  some  months,  probably  nearly  a  year.  The 
effect  of  his  preaching  was  wonderful.  Thousands 
had  heard  him  ;  and,  in  all  probabilit}',  there  was 
scarcely  an  Israelite  of  mature  age  who  had  not  lieard 
of  him  and  the  truth  he  proclaimed.  He  had  re- 
awakened and  given  a  delinite  form  to  the  slumbering 
expectations  of  the  Messiah  in  the  whole  population 
of  Palestine.  The  work  of  preparation  is  accom- 
plished. The  hour  for  the  manifestation  has  come. 
Jesus,  now  about  thirty  years  of  age,  leaves  his  home 
in  l^azareth,  and  journeying  east  and  south,  not  far 
from  the  lake  of  Genncsareth,  and  along  the  Jordan, 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  121 


reaches  Bethabara,  or  Bethany,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Jordan.  This-  precise  locality  has  never  been 
ascertained.  It  was  probably  near  one  of  the  fords  of 
the  Jordan,  and  some  distance  above  Jericho.  At  the 
point  opposite  Jericho,  where  pilgrims  usually  bathe, 
the  water  is  too  deep  to  be  crossed,  except  in  boats — 
here  Jesus  presents  himself  for  baptism. 

Just  here  a  question  arises,  which  it  is  necessary  for 
us  to  answer  before  we  proceed  to  the  baptism  itself: 
Did  John  know  Jesus  personally  before  this  ?  Matthew 
says  that  when  Jesus  presented  himself,  John  forbade 
him,  saying,  "  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and 
comest  thou  to  me  ?"  But  in  the  account  given  by 
the  Evangelist  John,  the  Baptist  affirms  that  he  knew 
him  not.  Two  suppositions  are  made  to  account  for 
this  apparent  difference.  The  first  is  that  John  did 
know  Christ  personally,  but  not  officially  as  the  Mes- 
siah ;  that  Avhile  he  knew  and  reverenced  him  as  his 
superior  in  piety,  yet  that,  until  he  had  received  some 
direct  instruction  from  heaven,  it  was  not  for  him  to 
recognize  him  in  his  Messianic  character.  The  testi- 
mony on  this  point  must  be  direct  and  supernatural. 
And,  until  that  was  received,  he  could  not  recognize 
and  point  him  out  as  the  one  to  prepare  the  way,  f(n- 
whom  he  had  come.  The  second  supposition  is  that 
John  did  not  know  Christ,  neither  personally  nor 
officially,  until  the  spirit  made  him  manifest.  There 
Avas  that  in  the  appearance  of  Jesus  which,  filling  up 
the  anticipations  of  his  own  prophetic  spirit,  and  har- 
monizing with  the  silent  suggestions  of  this  spirit, 
armed  and  disarmed  him — as  in  the  presence  of  a  supe- 
rior being ;  and,  laying  aside  his  official  dignity,  he  says, 
11  " 


122  SERMONS    ON    THE 

in  the  deep  consciousness  of  his  own  sinfuhiess  :  "  I 
have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee."  Either  of  these 
suppositions  will  harmonize  the  two  Evangelists. 
But  the  second  seems  to  me,  on  the  whole,  most  per- 
fectly in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  whole  scene. 
On  this  subject,  I  make  three  points.  The  first  is  that 
John  must  have  been  perfectly  familiar  with  the  su- 
pernatural origin  and  early  history  of  Jesus.  His  own 
birth,  so  intimately  connected  with  it ;  the  relation- 
ship of  Mary  and  Elizabeth ;  the  marked  character 
of  those  events,  and  the  anticipations  they  inspired, 
must  have  necessitated  this  knowledge.  Those  an- 
gelic appearances ;  those  songs  on  the  fields  of  Beth- 
lehem ;  the  visit  of  the  wise  men ;  all  must  have  been 
known  to  him.  In  connection  with  his  own  history, 
they  must  have  been  familiar  themes  of  conversation, 
and  topics  of  profound  thought  from  his  earliest  years. 
His  life,  his  character,  receives  its  form  and  some  of 
its  inspiration  from  these  events.  He  knew,  too,  that 
his  life  and  that  of  Jesus  Avere  to  be  mysteriously  con- 
nected. To  him,  too,  in  his  heart,  he  looked  as  the 
promised  Messiah,  and  out  in  the  wilderness  he  felt 
himself  in  the  presence  of  this  one  who  was  to  be  in- 
finitely greater  than  himself. 

The  second  point  is  that  their  early  homes  were 
widely  separated.  His  own  parents  were  aged;  Mary' 
was  surrounded  by  a  family  and  burdened  with  its 
cares.  There  is  no  record  of  a  visit  from  one  to  the 
other  after  that  Jirst  memorable  abode  of  Mary  in  the 
house  of  Elizabeth,  and  after  the  final  settlement  of 
Joseph  at  I^azareth  there  is  no  probability  that  such 
an  event  occurred.^  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth  soon  pass 
away.     John   retires   into   the  wilderness.     If,  before 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  123 

this,  tlicy  may  have  met,  Jcsns  and  John,  at  the  feasts  in 
Jerusalem,  it  was  in  early  youth,  and  could  have  heen 
but  for  a  brief  season ;  meanwhile  they  have  grown  to 
mature  manhood;  the  lineaments  of  early  life  have 
changed,  so  that  certain  recognition  would  have  been 
difHcult,  if  not  impossible. 

In  point  of  fact,  whatever  suppositions  wc  may 
imagine,  there  is  not  a  single  Avord  in  the  sacred  nar- 
ratives to  authorize  the  idea  that  the  Baptist  and  the 
Savior  had  ever  met,  or  ever  consciously  known  each 
other.  The  mediaeval  painters  delight  to  represent 
the  boy  John  along  with  the  infant  Jesus  ;  but,  how- 
ever beautiful  this  may  be  in  painting  and  poetry, 
such  a  representation  derives  not  a  particle  of  author- 
ity from  the  inspired  record.  My  third  point  is  that 
these  two  lives  in  their  development  were  never  de- 
signed to  be  coincident,  and  were  not  so  in  fact.  The 
only  points  where  they  meet  are  in  infancy  and  at  the 
final  manifestation.  John  is  a  solitary  child  in  the 
family  of  aged  parents,  trained  in  the  strict  discipline 
of  a  Nazarite,  early  leaving  all  society  and  in  the  wil- 
derness nourishing  his  lofty  aspirations  and  preparing 
himself  for  his  special  work.  Jesus  is  reared  in  a 
family  with  3'oung  associates,  calling  into  free  play  all 
the  iinerand  lovelier  sensibilities  of  his  nature.  Then 
he  is  in  the  carpenter's  shop,  in  contact  with  toil  and 
in  sympathy  with  its  trials.  He  is  in  a  busy  town, 
where  human  nature  reveals  itself  in  all  its  diverse 
peculiarities.  And  under  these  free  and  open  circum- 
stances his  humanity  has  full  play  for  all  its  affections, 
and  grows  up  in  favor  with  God  and  man.  Both 
study  the  same  inspired  record  ;  both  are  full  of  the 
spirit.     But  in  their  distinctive  and  peculiar  charac- 


124  SERMONS    ON    THE 

teristics  they  stand  at  opposite  poles.  IsTow,  notice 
how  in  this  independent  development  two  widely  dif- 
ferent things  are  effected.  (1.)  The  work  of  each  is 
totally  different,  and  the  method  of  their  lives  fits  each 
for  his  own  work.  John  is  to  be  simply  the  prophet- 
preacher — the  prophetic  voice — the  messenger  of  the 
Lord  to  summon  the  Israelites  to  repisntance  and  prep- 
aration for  the  coming  Messiah,  and  for  that  work  and 
that  alone  the  discipline  of  his  life  gave  him  a  wonder- 
ful fitness.  Jesus  is  to  be  Messiah  ;  in  sympathy  with 
humanity,  bearing  its  burdens,  suffering  for  its  sins, 
redeeming  it  from  its  guilt;  and  for  this  work  no  bet- 
ter discipline  for  his  human  nature  can  be  imagined 
than  that  through  which  he  passed.  (2.)  This  entire 
independence  of  their  lives  and  opposition  of  charac- 
ter precludes  all  idea  of  collusion  between  them. 
They  do  not  even  know  each  other  personally.  John 
is  influenced  by  no  direct  intercourse  with  Jesus. 
Jesus  is  wholly  unaftected  by  the  I^azarite's  solitary 
life.  The  idea  advanced  by  one  or  two  rationalists 
that  Jesus  had  borrowed  from  John,  and  had  been 
specially  influenced  by  him  in  forming  his  plan  for  the 
future  church,  is  too  absurd  for  refutation.  You  can 
not  find  in  history,  nor  can  you  imagine,  two  persons 
a.nimated  by  the  same  spirit,  whose  development,  char- 
acteristics, and  plans  were  more  thoroughly  diverse. 
There  is  a  divine  unity  in  spirit,  while  in  their  human 
developments  there  are  the  most  striking  contrasts. 
This  independence  in  character  reveals  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  their  preparation  for  the  work  appointed  to 
each.  The  hammer  and  the  sword  both  may  be  of  the 
same  material,  forged  in  the  same  fire  ;  but  how  divine 
in  form  and  how  different  the  work  thev  arc  fitted  for  ! 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  125 

John  was  the  prophetic  haiiuiicr  to  break  down  the 
pride  and  formalism  of  the  Jew  ;  Christ,  the  divine 
sword,  whose  word  was  to  separate  the  false  and  tl.e 
true  and  divide  asunder  soul  and  spirit.  Thus  the 
separation  of  these  two  lives  in  their  development 
subserves  an  important  purpose  in  the  introduction  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

We  come  now  to  one  of  the  most  remarkable  scenes 
in  history — the  meeting  of  Messiah  and  his  i)rophe*. 
Most  men  are,  at  iirst,  more  or  less  impressed  hy  per- 
sonal appearance.  To  coarser  nations,  apparent  size, 
physical  strength,  attracts  admiration.  Their  idea  of 
greatness  is  a  C^'clops.  Among  these,  Paul,  Luther, 
Napoleon,  Hamilton  would  pass  unnoticed.  Others, 
accustomed  to  analyze  character  and  trace  the  signs 
of  true  power,  detect  its  developments  in  the  expres- 
sion of  the  countenance  and  the  lines  which  thought 
or  an  intense  purpose  has  drawn.  Washington  pos- 
sessed a  peculiarly  commanding  presence,  which  for- 
tunately was  sustained  by  his  singular  balance  of 
mental  powers,  his  clear  judgment,  his  quiet  decision 
and  self-control.  Yet  the  greatest  men  in  history 
would  at  iirst  have  passed  unnoticed  in  the  crowd.  It 
is  not  till  their  great  thoughts  and  deeds  have  kindled 
admiration, that  the  imagination  transfigures  themwith 
the  glory  of  their  innate  greatness.  What  was  Christ's 
personal  appearance  we  have  no  satisfactory  means  of 
determining.  The  epistle  of  Lentulus  describes  him 
as  grave,  with  a  benign  expression  of  countenance. 
No  portrait  of  him  was  ever  drawn.  We  are  thank- 
ful for  it.  For  what  pencil,  wielded  by  what  master  of 
his  art,  could  fix  to  the  eye  of  sense  so  as  to  interpret 
to  the  soul  the  mingled  beauty,  grandeur,  love,  sever- 


126  SEEMONS    0?f   THE 

ity,  intelligence  of  Him  to  whom  all  other  men  are 
but  fragments  and  wrecks  of  a  perfect  humanity.  I 
care  not,  for  this  reason,  to  look  upon  a  painting  of 
Jesus.  The  soul  of  every  truly  Christian  man  knows 
they  are  but  the  sensual  imagery  of  some  one,  the 
conditions  of  his  moral  being  aiiecting  his  mental  ac- 
tion, so  that  he  gives  us  only  a  transcript  of  his  own 
moral  poverty,  ignorance,  and  stupidity.  Divine  good- 
ness, benignity,  love,  a  soul  bearing  the  sins  of  men 
are  its  heart,  an  intelligence  that  brings  into  darkness 
man's  highest  conceptions  and  thoughts,  the  sense  of 
justice  hallowed  by  mercy,  who  of  mortal  men  can 
paint  these?  Yet  these  are  the  grand  characteristics 
that  must  have  impressed  themselves  on  that  divine 
countenance.  Oh  ye  artists,  paint  Mary,  if  ye  choose, 
as  Raphael  paints  a  pretty  young  German  mother, 
without  one  distinctive  line  of  a  Jewess  in  her  face, 
and  we  will  applaud  the  success  ;  but  approach  not 
Jesus.  Had  you  seen  him,  his  unapproachable  grand- 
eur would  have  paralyzed  your  hand ;  you  coukl  not 
even  then  have  limned  the  expressions  of  the  divine. 
And  how  now  can  ye  create  out  of  your  poverty  of 
soul  an  image  that  shall  express  him  who  is  the  express 
image  of  God  himself  ?  Standing  in  that  crowd  he  is 
unknown  ;  all  eyes  are  turned,  all  thoughts  are  intent 
on  John,  the  most  striking  figure  in  Judea.  One  by 
one  they  are  baptized  and  pass  aside.  Then  Jesus 
approaches.  As  John's  eye  falls  upon  him  his  soul 
takes  in  the  spiritual  majesty  of  that  countenance. 
The  prophet's  soul  is  sensitive  to  the  slightest  indica- 
tions of  character.  A  proud  Pharisee,  a  flippant 
Sadducee  are  discords  in  his  heart.  With  e^^^e,  ear,  soul 
awake  in  expectation,  he  is  waiting  for  His  coming. 


LIFE   or    CHRIST.  127 

As  his  eye  meets  the  calm  look  of  Jesus,  a  voice  thrills 
through  the  silent  chambers  of  his  heart — lie  is  come! 
He  is  here!  Awe-struck,  speechless,  he  stands  for  a 
moment.  A  divine  afflatus  breathed,  as  it  were,  from 
the  silent  Savior  into  his  soul,  answers,  I  am  He,  thy 
long-expected  Messiah.  Instantly  his  official  authority, 
his  prophet-dignity,  his  unquestioned  superiority,  fall 
from  him.  A  trembling  sinner,  he  stands  before  the 
king  of  kings.  The  noblest,  grandest  character  in 
Palestine,  the  greatest  prophet  of  the  Hebrews  bend- 
ing in  lowly  worship,  cries  in  plaintive,  almost  piteous 
tones,  "  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  Thee — comest 
Thoa  to  me  !" 

In  this  sublime  scene  the  old  and  the  new — the  dis- 
pensation of  Moses  and  the  direct  dispensation  of  Jesus 
— stand  face  to  face.  Moses  and  Samuel,  David  and 
Isaiah,  and  the  mighty  train  of  prophets  are  there  in- 
carnate in  John,  their  last  and  greatest ;  Aaron  and 
his  priestly  sons  gather  at  the  river's  side  in  wonder 
and  worship.  The  tabernacle,  the  temple,  with  all 
their  gorgeous  ceremonial  and  sacrificial  altars,  soon 
to  give  place  to  the  cross  and  the  simpler  rites  of  a 
spiritual  chui'ch,  are  round  us  in  that  hour.  He,  whom 
they  all  proclaimed,  prefigured,  waited  for,  has  come  ! 
The  Redeemer  is  here  to  be  manifested  to  Israel,  and 
leave  all  these  servants  and  these  arrangements  of  the 
past  in  the  person  of  John.  Then  He  speaks,  "  Suf- 
fer it  to  he  so  notn  ;  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness."  What  righteousness?  The  ceremonial 
righteousness  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  baptism  of 
John  was  just  as  much  a  part  of  that  as  sacrifice  and 
offerings  and  circumcision.  They  were  all  parts  of  a 
system  of  things  designed  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 


128  SERMONS    ON    THE 

coming  of  Christ.  John,  a  prophet,  moved  of  God, 
as  Moses  was  before  him,  instituted  this  rite  as  a 
special  ceremonial  preparatory  to  the  immediate  com- 
ing of  Jesns.  It  rested  on  precisely  the  same  founda- 
tions as  every  other  rite  already  prescribed  in  their 
ritual,  and  it  became  the  Messiah  to  submit  to  it  for 
two  reasons. 

First,  it  became  him  to  honor  this  system  in  his 
person,  which  he,  through  his  servants,  had  in  time 
past  established,  to  accomplish  a  glorious  purpose. 
This  system  had  done  its  work.  For  centuries  it  had 
preserved  the  knowledge  and  maintained  the  worship 
of  the  one  living  and  true  God.  Everywhere  else 
idolatry  and  gross  superstition  had  settled  upon  the 
world.  At  one  point,  among  one  people,  in  one  temple 
alone,  there  was  light,  there  was  pure  truth,  there  was 
true  worship.  From  that  point  it  radiated  out  into 
the  dense  surrounding  darkness.  It  had  formed  the 
historic  and  prophetic  preparation  for  the  develop- 
ment of  Christianity.  It  perpetuated  the  true  church 
until  Christ  came  to  open  its  doors  to  the  world  and 
send  forth  the  law  from  Jerusalem.  This  system  was 
now  about  to  pass  away  into  history.  Its  living  power 
— the  divine  spirit  which  had  originated,  sustained,- 
and  used  it  for  purposes  so  immensely  important — 
was  to  be  withdrawn;  and  the  church,  with  Christ  no 
longer  enshrined  in  forms,  in  anticipation,  but  with  a 
living,  crucified,  risen  Christ,  with  a  fuller  revelation 
of  truth,  was  to  move  forward  to  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  iSTow  it  was  to  be  expected,  because  it  was 
■fitting,  that  the  hidden  Christ,  when  he  came,  should 
recognize  this  system  as  his  work,  should  honor  it  as 
divine,  should  put  the  seal  of  his  testimony  to  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  129 

work  it  had  accomplished.  The  last  of  the  prophets 
sent  forth  under  this  system  has  instituted,  in  counec- 
tion  with  his  work,  baptism  as  a  special  ceremony  and 
symbol  of  purification,  preparatory  to  the  manifesta- 
tion of  Messiah.  And  as  Jesus  had  honored  all  the 
ol>servances  of  this  house  of  the  Lord  hitherto,  so  now 
he  honors  this  his  prophet  and  recognizes  his  great 
mission  as  divine,  by  submitting  to  his  baptism,  as  one 
of  the  people. 

But  there  is  another  reason  which  justifies  and  sets 
forth  in  a  clear  light  the  fitness  of  Christ's  conduct. 
In  the  work  of  redeeming  men  he  humbled  himself  to 
the  assumption  of  their  nature ;  further  than  this,  he 
proceeds — he  is  made  under  the  law.  He  takes  upon 
himself  all  its  duties,  all  its  observances,  for  the  very 
purpose  of  illustrating  the  excellence  of  the  law  and,  by 
his  own  humiliation  under  it,  satisfying  all  its  provis- 
ions, even  to  the  endurance  of  death  itself.  If  you  ask 
why  did  Jesus,  who  was  immaculate  purity,  submit  to 
the  symbol  of  purification  as  if  he  were  a  sinner,  I  ask 
with  equal  pertinency,  why  was  he  circumcised  ?  Why 
was  he,  the  redeemer  of  man,  redeemed  as  a  first-born 
son  by  the  offering  in  the  temple  ?  Why  did  he,  who 
w^as  himself  the  great  sacrifice,  consent  to  offer  sacri- 
fices and  eat  the  pascal  lamb,  which  was  a  t3'pe  of 
himself?  And  the  answer  comes  full  and  clear,  be- 
cause he  had  identified  himself  with  man  as  if  he  was 
a  sinner  ;  because,  in  order  to  fulfill  the  law  and  per- 
fect himself  as  the  captain  of  salvation  and  the  sym- 
pathizing high  priest  of  the  human  soul,  he  had  under- 
taken to  bear  all  its  burdens,  and  submit  to  all  its  trials, 
and  discharge  all  its  duties.  To-day,  O  sinner!  as  you 
study  this  life  of  Jesus,  you  will  mark,  with  wonder, 


130  SERMONS   ON    THE 


how  he  never  claimed  exemption,  on  account  of  his  di- 
vine dignity,  from  one  single  observance  of  tlie  law,  or 
a  single  duty  devolving  u[»on  him  as  a  being  clothed 
with  your  nature.  And,  therefore,  you  see  him  approach 
the  prophet,  as  before  he  had  approached  the  priest, 
and  saying  to  the  trembling  John,  astonished  that  he 
who  was  to  baptize  men  with  the  Holy  Ghost  should 
submit  himself  to  the  baptism  of  a  sinful  man  :  "  Suf- 
fer it  to  be  so  now ;  for  so  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness."  This  voice,  which  no  man  ever  heard 
with  indifference,  now,  for  the  first  time,  heard  by  him, 
thrills  through  the  prophet  as  the  voice  of  God.  In- 
stantly he  obeys.  Meekly  the  Savior,  standing  a  little 
way  in  the  stream,  receives  from  his  own  servant's 
hands  the  symbol  of  purification.  Ascending  the  bank 
of  the  river,  he  prays.  His  whole  soul,  filled  with  the 
fearful  yet  glorious  mission  he  has  undertaken,  and  in 
which  he  is  now  about  visibly  to  enter,  is  absorbed  in 
communion  with  God.  All  the  past,  all  the  dread, 
solemn  future,  with  its  after  glory,  held  possession 
of  him,  as  he  feels  liimself  irrevocably  committed  to 
the  amazing  work  of  human  redemption.  This  is  the 
hour,  this  the  moment,  chosen  for  the  full  manifesta- 
tion of  his  Messiahship  to  his  appointed  messenger. 
His  appearance,  his  words,  attended  by  the  inward 
witness  of  the  spirit,  have  dee[)ly  impressed  John  with 
his  superiority  to  himself.  Now  he  is  to  receive  the 
unmistakable  evidence  that  this  is  indeed  the  long-ex- 
pected Messiah  whose  speedy  coming  he  has  with  such 
intense  earnestness  proclaimed.  Suddenly  the  heavens 
seemed  to  open,  as  if  through  a  vista  the  splendors  of 
the  upper  world  shone  down  upon  the  Savior,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God,  as  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  descends 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  131 


slowly  and  rests  upon  liim,  and,  while  his  eyes  are 
tilled  with  this  wonderful  vision,  a  voice  proceeds  from 
that  central  glory:  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased."  That  opened  heaven,  with  its 
shiniug  glory,  is  brighter  than  the  sun;  that  dove, 
with  its  gentle  motions,  as  clearly  defined  as  the  form 
of  Christ  himself;  that  voice  as  full,  as  distinct,  as 
ever  entered  mortal  ears.  Henceforth  John  i)roclaims 
no  more  a  Messiah  to  come ;  but  the  Messiah  come. 

Various  questions  have  been  raised  in  reference  to 
this  scene.  The  rationalist  endeavors  to  account  for 
it  on  natural  principles.  It  is  difficult  to  deny  that 
this  scene  occurred.  All  the  Evangelists  record  it. 
But  then  it  is  supposed  that  it  \vas  somehow  the 
product  of  a  heated  imagination,  representing  to  John 
rather  the  creations  of  his  own  fancy  than  actual 
facts.  This  class  of  people  are  afraid  to  step  a  foot 
into  the  apiritual  world.  They  shudder  at  the  idea  of 
the  supernatural.  In  their  gross  materialistic  philos- 
ophy, God  is  nothing  more  than  natural,  physical 
force,  bound  up  in  it,  as  a  galley  slave  is  chained  to 
the  oar.  And  to  get  rid  of  the  facts,  which  stand  out 
bold,  clear,  unquestioned  by  any  just  historical  criti- 
cism, they  resort  to  the  most  extraordinary  hypothe- 
sis, such  as  in  common  life  an  idiot,  much  less  a  wise 
man,  would  hardly  receive.  A  heated  imagination  im- 
poses upon  the  stern,  clear-minded,  matter-of-fact  John 
such  a  scene  as  this  !  And  John  henceforth  acts  upon 
it  as  the  supernatural  testimony  of  God !  Jesus,  too, 
is  w^holly  mistaken !  He,  too,  is  imposed  upon  !  And 
he  and  John  continue  to  impose  a  fiction  upon  the 
world  as  a  great  truth  !  I  do  not  see  why,  in  the  same 
way  of  false  assumption,  every  fact  in  history  may  not 


132  SERMONS   ON    THE 

be  juggled  out  of  existence.  The  little  corporal,  Napo- 
leon, at  twenty-six  years  of  age  did  not  shake  the  thrones 
of  Europe  to  their  foundations  by  his  cannon.  It 's  all  a 
fiction  that  three  millions  of  people  successfully  resisted 
fifteen,  some  eighty  years  ago,  in  this  land.  I^ay, 
it  is  not  necessarily  a  fact  that  you  are  hearing  me 
preach  to-night  supernaturalism,  for  there  is  no  such 
thing ;  and  when  you  leave  this  house  it  will  all  be  a 
matter  of  mere  memory,  about  which  you  may  be 
mistaken.  For  remember  that  there  is  no  more  reason 
why  a  man  should  be  mistaken  about  a  visible  fact  or 
heard  word,  whose  origin  is  supernatural,  than  there  is 
that  he  should  be  mistaken  about  any  other  facts  in  his 
daily  life.  Facts  are  facts,  and  testimony  is  testimony, 
however  the  facts  be  originated.  And  when  men 
assume  that  God  has  never  done  anything  supernat- 
ural in  this  world,  they  are  compelled  to  deny  the 
plainest  facts,  authenticated  by  the  highest  testimony 
man  can  receive.  Now,  dismissing  this  false  and  de- 
grading assumption,  let  us  look  at  this  scene  from  the 
Christian  stand-point.  It  is  a  fact  that  Jesus  is  Mes- 
siah, and  is  about  publicly  to  enter  upon  that  work 
which  all  men  see  and  know  has  changed  the  character 
and  destiny  of  the  world.  It  is  a  fact  that  John  is  his 
prophet-messenger,  whose  words  have  already  moved 
the  hearts  of  millions  with  hopes  of  Christ's  speedy 
coming.  It  is  a  fact  that  at  some  time,  in  some  way, 
Christ  was  made  known  to  John,  and  by  him  mani- 
fested to  Israel.  And  this  is  the  time  ;  this,  the  way. 
The  appearance  of  Jesus  ;  the  recognition  of  his  supe- 
riority by  John  ;  the  words  of  Christ,  in  keeping  with 
his  whole  character;  the  feelings  of  John,  in  perfect 
consistency  with  his  character;  Christ  in  prayer;  the 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  133 


open  heavens  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  symbolized  in  the  form 
of  a  dove,  gentle,  pure,  lovely  ;  those  wondrous  words 
mortal  man  never  originated :  "  This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  " — and  how  grand  and 
fitting  an  inauguration  is  this  of  Messiah  in  his  office 
l)efore  men!  How  all  the  parts  harmonize  with  the 
characters,  the  purpose,  and  the  result!  When  I 
study  the  w^orks  of  God,  a  flower,  a  tree,  the  human 
body  or  the  soul,  I  see  design  and  wisdom  in  this 
adaptation  of  part  to  part,  of  means  to  ends,  and  I  be- 
hold here  the  flnger  of  a  personal  God.  And  where, 
in  this  higher  realm  of  the  spiritual,  I  see  the  same 
harmony  of  all  the  parts,  the  same  adaptation  of 
means  to  ends,  I  am  compelled  to  recognize  here  the 
special  handiwork  of  God.  Human  reason,  however 
affected,  can  not  of  itself  create  these  sublime  harmo- 
nics, harmonies  deeper  and  higher  than  those  of  na- 
ture, any  more  than  man  can  create  a  star,  a  sun,  a 
universe  of  harmonious  orbs.  Here  is  the  fit  inaugura- 
tion of  Jesus  in  his  public  Messianic  w^ork.  JSTothing 
more  fitting,  nothing  more  grand,  nothing  more  un- 
like the  work  of  man  in  all  history.  There  com- 
menced the  formal  public  ministry  of  him  whose 
name  henceforth  is  to  be  more  potent  than  armies; 
whose  words  are  to  be  the  world's  light;  whose  works 
are  to  bear  at  every  point  the  impress  of  divine  wisdom, 
love,  and  power;  whose  kingship  untold  millions  are 
to  recognize,  and  whose  death  is  to  be  the  Ijirth  throes 
of  redemption  for  our  lost  humanity. 

A  question  has  also  been  started  as  to  the  time 
when  the  full  consciousness  of  his  mission  took  pos- 
session of  the  humanity  of  Jesus.  And  some  have 
not  hesitated  to  affirm  that  here  at  the  baptism  the 


134  SERMONS   ON    THE 

Holy  Ghost  for  tlie  first  time  rested  upon  him  in  full- 
ness, and  to  his  sonl  communicated  the  knowledge  of 
his  real  nature  and  the  premonitions  of  his  great  work. 
With  most  men  who  have  been  called  to  a  ministry  of 
special  richness  and  power  in  the  church,  you  can  dis- 
cover a  period  in  their  lives  when  the  consciousness 
of  their  jDower  blazed  up  within  them,  and  anticipa- 
tions of  their  future  suddenly  filled  and  lightened 
through  their  minds.  Luther  at  Erfurt,  Calvin,  Knox, 
"Whitefield,  Wesley,  and  others  of  the  reformers, 
greatly  successful  ministers  of  the  truth,  pass  through 
such  an  experience,  when  the  fullness  of  a  divine 
baptism  is  poured  upon  them,  and  they  rise  to  the 
consciousness  of  a  special  consecration  to  a  special 
mission.  But  in  the  case  of  Jesus  there  is  not  in  all 
his  history  the  least  intimation  of  any  such  experience. 
They  were  sinful  men,  renewed  by  the  divine  spirit, 
and  animated  by  his  presence  to  labor  for  their  Lord. 
But  in  Christ  the  sinless,  the  divine  worked  in  mys- 
terious harmony  with  the  human,  awakening,  as  the 
soul  was  fitted  for  it  in  its  successive  growth,  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  wonderful  union  and  the  intinite 
purpose,  till  it  was  filled  with  all  tlie  conscious 
fullness  of  God.  There  could  be  here  no  sudden  il- 
lumination of  a  precedent  darkness,  for  the  darkness 
never  existed.  Rather  must  it  have  been  the  light 
brightening  with  the  expanding  powers  until  those 
powers  w^ere  fully  developed.  He,  who,  at  tw^elve 
years  of  age,  felt  that  he  must  be  about  his  Father's 
work,  did  not  wait  till,  he  w^as  thirty  years  old  to 
know  wdiat  that  work  was.  No  !  It  w^as  with  him 
from  the  cradle ;  it  mingled  with  his  earliest  thoughts 
and  aspirations;  it  filled  him  at  his  daily  toil  with  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  135 


consciousness  of  liis  mysterions  mission,  and  ho  only 
waited  tlie  iitting  hour  and  way  to  take  liis  position 
and  accomplish  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy.  Not  for 
him  was  the  baptism,  and  the  open  heavens,  and  the 
descending  dove,  and  the  voice  of  God.  These  were 
the  divine  attestations  to  John,  his  prophet,  that  he, 
in  fnltilling  his  mission,  might  point  him  out  to  the 
people,  with  all  the  authority  of  prophetic  inspiration, 
as  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  Thus  assured,  in  all  his  subsequent  ministry 
he  bare  record,  this  is  the  Son  of  God, 

Here,  then,  in  this  scene  is  the  tirst  supernatural 
manifestation  of  Christ  as  Messiah  subsequent  to  his 
birth.  But  it  is  not  the  last.  We  are  now  to  trace 
the  life  of  this  wonderful  being,  illuminated  at  every 
step  by  truths  of  divine  wisdom  and  works  of  divine 
power.  We  shall  see  him  as  man  triumphing  over" 
temptation,  weeping  and  praying,  suffering.  We  shall 
see  him  as  God,  teaching,  organizing,  working  mira- 
cles. We  shall  see  the  light  go  out,  seemingly  forever, 
in  the  darkjiess  of  the  cross;  w^e  shall  see  this  life, 
bursting  the  bars  of  death  and  leading  captivity  cap- 
tive, ascend  to  heaven. 

And  oh  !  when  the  angel  of  deatli  darkens  the  door 
of  our  dwelling  and  bears  from  us  the  brightest  ob- 
jects of  our  earthly  affections — yea,  not  only  the  aged, 
ripe  in  years  for  the  garner  of  the  Lord,  but  the 
youthful  Christian,  when  the  cup  of  earthly  happi- 
ness mantles  to  the  lips,  ere  the  bridal  wreath  has 
faded,  and  the  brightness  of  the  sweetest  of  earthly 
unions  is  undimmed  by  a  single  sorrow,  oh!  then 
the  heart  in  its  agony  turns  for  help  to  him  who  Avas 
baptized  Avith  our  suffering,  and  went  down  into  the 


136  SERMONS    ON    THE 

darkness  of  the  sepulcher,  and,  leaving  there  all  our 
sins,  came  forth  triumphantly,  crying,  as  he  rose,  "I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life;  he  that  believeth  in 
me  shall  never  die." 

Last  Sabbath  eve  I  preached  to  you  of  the  gain  of 
death  to  the  Christian;  for  the  day  before  we  had  laid 
the  dust  of  one  strong  in  Christian  manhood  to  rest 
until  the  resurrection.  Yesterday  again,  with  heav- 
enly melodies  soft  and  sweet,  and  words  of  divine 
hope,  we  laid  the  fair  form  of  the  young  bride  down 
among  the  flowers,  and  amidst  the  singing  of  birds,  to 
await  the  hour  when  Jesus  shall  call  the  already 
sainted  spirit,  reanimate  it,  and  raise  it  to  attend  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb.  It  is  amidst  such 
scenes  we  realize  the  preciousness  of  faith  in  him  on 
whom  the  dove  descended,  and  the  voice  from  heaven 
declared,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son."  Oh!  while  we 
sympathize  with  those  who  mourn  the  departure  of 
the  loved,  while  we  feel  the  nearness  of  death,  let  us 
I'ejoice  that  Jesus  only  took  to  himself  our  precious 
fold,  already  prepared  for  glorj^  Let  us  gird  on  our 
armor,  and  go  forth  with  a  more  intense  solicitude  to 
bring  to  Christ  the  multitude  who,  living  without 
faith,  are  only  ripening  for  the  sorrows  of  a  death  that 
knows  no  end. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  137 


VIII. 

THE    TEMPTATION    (nO.  1) — THE    DIVINE   AND    HUMAN. 

"  And  the  Word  icas  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us 
{and  ive  beheld  his  glory ^  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten 
of  the  Father,)  fall  of  grace  and  truth." — John  i,  14. 

In  discoursing  to  j-ou  on  the  life  of  Christ,  wo  have 
])asscd  from  his  supernatural  birth  up  to  the  time 
Avhen  at  his  ba[>tism  he  was  fully  recognized  as  the 
Messiah.  At  this  point  he  appears  before  us  in  his 
full  maturity.  From  this  time  his  public  ministr}',  as 
the  divine  Redeemer,  commences.  Henceforth  and 
forever  he  is  to  be  the  living  center  of  humanit3\ 
From  him  history  is  to  take  its  departure.  In  him 
religion  lias  its  true  life;  an'^d  by  liim  all  systems  of 
human  faith  are  to  be  tried.  From  this  time  the  true 
light,  that  is  to  enlighten  ever}'  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world,  breaks  forth  in  its  divine  splendor.  The  life 
of  Jesus  now  opens  to  us  the  astonishing  paradox  of 
the  divine  Son  in  our  iiumanit}'  ;  of  two  natures,  in- 
finitely removed  from  each  other  as  the  separate  poles 
of  being,  yet  brought  together  and  acting  as  one  per- 
son— the  inlinite  word  dwelling  in  flesh.  We  can  not 
now  take  a  step  forward  in  this  life  without  seeing 
these  two  natures  revealing  themselves.  This  often 
strikes  us  strangely,  m^'steriously,  as  it  did  multitudes 
who  saw  and  heard  Jesus.  The  outward  contest  bc- 
12 


138  SERMONS   ON    THE 

tween  infinite  power  and  human  weakness;  infinite 
knowledge  and  limited  intelligence";  a  nature  divine 
that  can  neither  be  tempted  nor  suffer,  and  a  human 
nature  subject  to  both,  at  first  perplexes;  because  we 
see  not  the  secret  harmony  of  this  union,  nor  the  mode 
in  which  it  is  constituted.  Yet  we  have  the  Ivcy  that 
unlocks  the  secret  of  this  unique  person  in  our  text — 
Tlie  word  made  flesh. 

Just  here,  as  we  are  entering  upon  this  mysterious 
phase  of  Christ's  life — his  temptation — it  seems  to  me 
fit  we  should  dwell  on  this  subject,  and,  as  far  as  we 
can,  attain  clear  views  of  the  sphere  of  these  two  na- 
tures, their  relations  to  each  other  and  their  mutual 
action  and  reaction  on  each  other.  If  we  are  success- 
ful in  this,  then  much  of  the  perplexity  and  vagueness 
that  embarrass  the  minds  of  many  Christians  will  be 
removed,  I  do  not  mean  by  this  tliat  we  can  under- 
stand the  mode  of  tliis  union,  any  more  than  we  can 
fathom  the  mystery  that  envelopes  the  union  of  spirit 
and  body  in  man,  or  the  mystery  of  life  anywhere. 
But  there  are  certain  facts  characteristic  of  this  union 
which  we  can  understand,  and  other  analogous  facts 
which  may  throw  some  light  on  the  operation  of  these 
two  natures  in  one  person. 

Starting  now  with  the  human  side,  the  first  fact  to 
be  noticed  is,  that  Christ's  humanity  was  complete. 
lie  possessed  the  body  and  the  soul,  the  intellect,  the 
affections,  tlie  will,  the  activities,  and  the  passivities  ; 
the  entire  constitution  of  a  man.  In  himself  he  sub- 
stantiates the  perfect  ideal  of  our  humanity.  This 
fact  is  so  fully  declared  in  Scripture,  and  so  generally 
accepted  the  world  over,  that  I  need  not  dwell  upon  it. 
2.  I  must  remark,  that  this  humanity  must  unfold 


LIFE    OF   CHKIST.  139 

itself  in  liannony  with  the  hiws  uiid  under  the  liuiita- 
tioiis  rio^htly  belonging  to  this  human  nature.  There 
is  nothing  in  this  union  of  the  divine  with  the  human 
that  supersedes  this  kind  of  development  or  renders  it 
unnecessary.  Indeed,  it  was  essential  to  the  very  ob- 
ject for  wliich  God  is  manifest  in  flesh,  since  only 
thus  could  Christ  fully  take  upon  him  our  nature  and 
he  made  subject  to  law  and  suffering.  lie  was  an  in- 
fant, nourished  at  his  mother's  breast,  like  any  other 
infant,  and  displaying  all  the  artless  ways  and  gleams 
of  new-born  intelligence  that  shed  such  tenderness, 
sweetness,  and  attractiveness  around  our  infancy.  So 
his  body  grew  to  the  ripe  stature  of  manhood,  just  as 
other  bodies  grow,  gradually  develo[)ing  all  physical 
powers  in  accordance  with  the  same  laws  and  condi- 
tions that  regulate  and  limit  our  growth.  His  intel- 
lect and  his  affections  ripen  in  the  same  way  ;  not  l>y 
a  sudden  leap,  springing  into  maturity,  but  quietlv  ad- 
vancing, idea  added  to  idea,  conclusion  to  conclusion, 
meeting  and  overcoming  difRculties,  exercising  the 
will  in  application,  in  study,  in  tiie  regulation  of  all 
powers  of  mind  and  heart,  and  in  all  the  aiipropriate 
duties  and  labors  of  his  condition.  This  kind  of  growth 
is  expressly  affirmed  of  him  in  Scripture,  "And  Jesus 
increased  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor  with 
God  and  man."  So  far  as  his  humanity  was  concerned 
he  was  subject  to  the  same  laws  of  growth  and  life 
that  characterize  human  nature  everj'where. 

3.  Christ,  being  thus  constituted,  was  liable  to  suffer. 
His  hody,  like  any  other  human  body,  was  sensitive  to 
pain.  Fire  would  burn  him;  the  nails  driven  into  his 
hands  and  feet  would  cause  exquisite  suffering.  His 
wliole  physical  organism  was  alive  with  nervous  sen- 


140  SERMONS   ON    THE 

sibility.  He  was  equally  capable  of  suffering  in  bis 
soul.  His  moral  and  social  sensibilities  were  most 
acute  and  tender.  The  sight  of  evil  and  of  sin  pained 
him,  revolted  him.  The  grief,  the  misery  of  others 
stirs  his  compassion.  The  tears  that  he  shed  at  the 
grave  of  Lazarus,  that  he  wept  over  Jerusalem,  reveal 
the  sensitiveness  of  his  soul  to  suffering.  To  suffer 
was  essential  to  his  mission,  and  so  his  whole  humanity 
lay  open  on  every  side  to  its  assaults.  Its  very  per- 
fection, its  pure  and  delicate  nature,  enabled  him  to 
become  the  chief  sufferer  of  all  the  sons  of  Adam, 

4.  I  remark  now,  that  Christ  in  his  humanity  was 
/     liable  to  temptation.  He  had  in  himself  all  the  original 

appetites,  passions,  and  desires  belonging  to  our  na- 
ture. As  a  complete  man,  these  were  in  him  in  their 
full,  original  perfection.  He  was  gifted  with  a  will 
free  to  indulge  them.  There  was  nothing  in  him  that 
thrust  him  out  of  the  sphere  of  our  nature  and  com- 
pelled him  to  move  in  another.  His  mission  obliged 
him  to  occupy  our  sphere,  and  he  did  occupy  it  with, 
all  its  trials  and  exposures.  This  is  expressly  asserted 
w^here  it  is  said  "  He  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as 
we  are."  This  involves  the  possibilities  of  sin.  For  a 
temptation,  without  the  possibilitj^  of  sin,  is  no  tempta- 
tion at  all.  There  must  be  desires  to  be  addressed  and 
/  a  will  able  to  comply,  or  you  might  as  well  offer  food 
to  a  stone,  Jesus  Christ  in  his  human  nature  came  for 
the  express  purpose  of  being  one  with  us  in  our  temp- 
tations ;  to  feel  with  us  all  these  natural  impulses,  and 
to  illustrate  before  our  eyes  the  conquest  'which  a  jjure 
soul  gains  over  sin. 

5.  To  complete  this  summary  of  Christ  in  his  hu- 
manity, I  add  the  perfection  of  his  character.  Tempted 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  141 

as  wc  are,  "  he  is  without  sin."  lie  dwells  habitually 
in  the  presence,  and  is  tilled  with  the  love  of  God. 
His  life  is  the  loftiest  ideal  of  a  perfect  humanity.  All 
the  perfections,  the  grandeur,  and  the  simplicity,  the 
inward  emotions  and  the  outward  manifestations  of 
them,  which  man  can  imagine  as  characteristic  of  a 
holy  being,  are  combined  in  him.  AVith  singular 
unanimity,  friends  and  foes  for  two  thousand  years 
have  placed  him  above  ail  others  of  the  race.  The  ex- 
ceptions are  so  few  tliat  they  are  not  worth  mentioning. 
Even  Theodore  Parker,  ready  enough  as  he  was  to  as- 
sail the  living  and  the  dead,  even  when  in  his  pitiful 
self-conceit  he  imagined  himself  superior  to  Jesus  in 
knowledge,  never  ventured  to  asperse  Irts  character. 
Where  the  Scri[itures  place  him  in  unapproachable 
purity  of  life,  the  world  places  him.  Time,  that  tries 
all  things,  joins  with  Pilate  in  the  solemn  affirmation, 
"  I  find  no  fault  in  him." 

Here,  then,  we  have  in  Christ  a  perfect  humanity  ;  he 
is  your  brother,  prepared  to  sympathize  with  and  suffer 
for  you.  In  his  mission  to  this  world  he  took  not  on 
him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  the  nature  of  man.  The 
word  was  made  ilesh.  He  was  in  the  form  of  God; 
took  the  form  of  a  servant.  I  pass  now  to  consider  the 
other  side  of  our  subject — The  dwine  nature  in  its  union, 
with  our  nature  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  word 
that  was  God  is  made  flesh.  The  divine  Son  of  God 
is  united  to  our  nature.  This  is  a  true,  real  union, 
constituting  one  harmonious  person.  Language  can 
not  make  this  more  emphatic  than  it  is  made  in  the 
text.  The  word  is  actually  made  flesh,  made  one  or- 
ganically with  our  humanity.  The  mode  of  this  union 
is  wholly  beyond  our  reason  now,  and  therefore  we  are 


142  SERMONS    ON    THE 

not  called  upon  to  believe  anything-  about  it.  Bnt  the 
fact  of  such  a  union  is  easily  apprehended,  and  its  re- 
lations to  our  redemption  readily  understood  and  have 
been  by  millions  since  Christ  appeared.  Fifty  years 
ago  Unitarianism  in  Boston  refused  to  recognize  Christ 
as  the  divine  Son  of  God,  ostensibly  because  this  doc- 
trine did  not  accord  with  their  reason ;  really,  because 
they  could  not  comprehend  it.  As  if  a  man  could  live 
in  this  world  without  believing  ten  thousand  thinc^s 
wholly  beyond  his  comprehension,  i^ow,  however,  a 
large  class  of  philosophers,  following  this  same  reason 
as  they  think,  have  swung  clear  round  to  the  opposite 
23ole,  and  are  ready  to  believe  anything  because  it  is 
incomprehensible.  Nay,  so  far  have  they  gone  in 
their  sublimated  reason,  that  instead  of  one  divine 
person  incarnate,  they  count  all  men  divine,  yea,  even 
the  brutes  and  the  trees  and  the  world,  all,  with  man, 
are  the  only  God.  One  of  these  men,  living  not  a 
thousand  miles  from  Boston,  imagines  that  when  he 
walks  abroad  the  trees  nod  to  him,  the  divinity  in 
them  salutes  the  divinity  in  him  ;  and  he  might,  on 
the  same  principle,  have  added,  that  every  donkey  he 
meets  brays  to  him  in  recognition  of  a  common  brother- 
hood. To  such  enormous  extravagancies  do  men  pro- 
ceed when  they  reject  the  Scriptures  as  the  true  rule 
of  faith  and  practice,  and  set  up  reason  as  superior. 
Let  us  ever  remember  these  facts  :  1st.  That  reason 
has  its  own  sphere,  and  that  every  man  is  responsible 
for  its  right  use  within  this  sphere.  2d.  That  reason 
apprehends  as  facts,  and  acts  upon  them  daily,  a  thou- 
sand things  in  nature  and  life  which  it  can  not  fully 
understand.  The  existence  of  God  as  a  wise,  holy, 
omnipotent,  omniscient  sovereign;  creation  ;  the  union 


LIFE   OF    CHEIST.  143 

of  soul  and  body  ;  generation  and  reproduction  all  over 
the  eartli  ;  time;  eternity;  life;  ]iliysieal  and  mental 
organization  ;  yea,  almost  everything  the  eye  sees  or 
the  ear  hears  or  the  hands  handle  are  of  this  character. 
And  it  is  worse  than  a  mistake,  it  is  the  most  atrocious 
folly  and  Avickedness  to  accept  this  principle  as  funda- 
mental to  our  earthly  life  and  reject  it  in  reference  to 
the  vastly  higher  subject  of  our  spiritual  life — to  de- 
mand that  God  in  his  word  shall  make  known  to  us 
no  fact  that  reason  can  not  fully  understand,  while  in 
creation  he  has  acted  uniformly  on  an  opposite  prin- 
ciple. If  he  should  do  so,  these  persons  would  turn 
round  and  affirm  that  the  Bible  was  the  work  of  a 
simpleton,  and  oidy  meant  for  babes. 

Now,  this  grand  fact,  the  AVord  made  flesh,  meets 
us  at  the  opening  of  the  gos[»el,  meets  us  at  every  step 
as  we  advance  in  it;  in  various  ways  it  flashes  upon 
us,  and  without  it  the  life  and  words  and  mission  of 
Jesus  are  an  unsolved  enigma,  without  purpose  and 
without  end.  I  accept  this  fact  as  revealed  to  the 
world  b}^  God  himself,  and  rejoice  unspeakably  in  the 
results  which  flow  from  it  to  me  and  to  all  who  be- 
lieve. 

In  observing  this  union,  and  the  peculiar  manner 
in  which  it  is  manifest,  there  are  some  things  we  may 
say,  without  attempting  to  be  wise  above  what  is 
written  ;  in  other  words,  we  nuiy  endeavor  to  interpret 
the  facts  as  they  come  out  in  the  life  of  our  Savior. 
I  feel,  indeed,  that  great  modesty  and  caution  becomes 
us  in  conducting  such  a  discussion  ;  that  when  \ye 
enter  the  divine  sanctuary  of  this  inner  life  of  Jesus, 
we  must  take  ott'  our  shoes,  tread  softly  and  reverently, 
while  we  pray  Ilim  that  no  word  may  be  uttered  or 


144  SERMONS   ON    THE 

tlionght  expressed  that  is  not  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  truth. 

Feeling  thus  our  need  of  divine  guidance,  we  ven- 
ture upon  this  unusual  discussion,  in  the  hope  that 
while  it  stimulates  thought,  it  ma}^  also  assist  in  dis- 
embarrassing this  subject  of  some  difficulties  that  are 
felt  by  many  in  practically  recognizing  this  divine 
union  in  Christ. 

First,  then,  I  remark  that  in  such  a  union  of  dis- 
tinct natures  it  is  self-evident  that  the  inferior  is 
wholly  dependent  upon  the  superior  for  the  manifest- 
ation of  itself;  in  other  words,  to  use  a  philosophical 
expression,  the  superior  conditions  the  inferior.  The 
human  nature  of  Christ  is  dependent  upon  the  divine 
for  such  revelations  as  the  latter  may  see  fit  to  make. 
This  union  did  not  make  the  human  soul  divine  ;  it 
did  not  take  awaj-  its  humanity;  it  left  it  in  its  own 
sphere,  to  receive  such  peculiar  revelations  and  such 
light,  such  power  as  the  divine  Son  in  it  saw  to  be 
best.  This,  I  say,  is  self-evident;  it  is  a  universal 
law.  The  little  child  has  a  special  dependence,  in 
many  respects,  upon  the  parent.  It  is  for  the  mother 
or  father  to  give  it  such  sustenance,  such  instruction, 
as  in  her  or  his  judgment  is  suited  to  the  age  and  ca- 
pacities of  a  child.  They  are,  in  a  sense,  one — one 
family,  one  blood — peculiarly,  though  not  organicallj', 
one  in  life.  And  it  is  God's  constitution  that  the  in- 
ferior in  power  and  knowledge  shall  be  dependent  upon 
the  will  of  the  superior.  A  mere  workman  is  in  the 
same  manner  relatively  dependent  upon  the  man  of 
genius  and  mental  power  to  plan  and  organize  what  he 
may  execute.  Nor  would  it  make  a  particle  of  dif- 
ference if  the  soul  of  a  Michael  Angelo  should  be 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  145 

united  with  the  soul  of  one  of  his  workmen  in  one 
body.  God  could  put  two  souls  of  different  capacities 
into  one  bod}'  as  easily  as  he  could  one.  In  both  cases 
the  inferior  would  be  dependent  upon  the  superior. 
In  dead  matter,  the  larger  mass  has  greater  attractive 
power  than  the  smaller.  And  so  through  all  the  realm 
of  mind  and  matter  this  law  holds  good.  Now,  what 
I  mean  to  affirm  is,  that  the  union  of  the  divine  nature 
with  the  luiman  did  not  necessitate  an  absorption  of 
the  one  into  the  other;  that  it  left  the  humanity  free 
in  all  its  own  proper  action,  while,  as  the  inferior,  it 
receives  only  such  light  and  power  as  the  divine  Son 
chooses  to  impart. 

This  point  being  evident,  then  it  follows  that  at  one 
time  there  may  have  been  a  full  communication  of  the 
divine  nature  to  the  human  consciousness  of  Jesus, 
and  at  another  a  withdrawal  of  it.  Such  is  the  nature 
of  this  union,  the  divine  thus  conditioning  and  limit- 
ing the  human,  that  the  manifestation  of  the  one  to  the 
consciousness  of  the  other  must  have  been  wholly  in 
the  power  and  at  the  will  of  the  former.  Thus  at  one 
time  it  was  true  that  the  soul  of  Jesus  was  so  full  of 
this  divine  nature,  his  consciousness  was  so  intcrper- 
meated  and  exalted  by  the  sense  of  this  blissful  union, 
tliat  he  dwelt  in  heaven,  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
God,  in  his  bosom,  and  felt  the  divinity  revealing 
itself  to  the  innermost  depths  of  his  soul,  and  tilling 
all  its  powers  with  its  light  and  power.  Then,  again, 
this  sense  of  the  divine  may  have  been  withdrawn 
from  his  consciousness,  and  in  deep  darkness  he  may 
have  felt  the  terror  and  the  woe  of  an  abandonment 
to  his  own  poor,  unsustaincd  hunianily.  All  the  facts 
IS 


146  SERMONS   ON    THE 

in  this  m3'sterions  life  show  that  this  must  have  been 
the  character  of  the  relation  of  the  divine  and  human  ; 
and,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  on  this  supposition  every 
part  of  it,  and  all  its  most  wonderful  scenes,  find  a 
beautiful  illustration. 

To  this  I  now  add  another  remark — that  the  time 
and  extent  of  this  manifestation  of  the  divine  in  the 
human  consciousness  of  Jesus  would  be  determined 
by  the  needs  and  necessities  of  his  soul  in  view  of  the 
great  purpose  for  which  the  word  is  made  flesh.  This 
purpose  is  to  constitute  him  the  Savior  of  the  world. 
But  in  order  to  this,  the  humanity  of  Christ  must  pass 
through  all  stages  of  development,  through  tempta- 
tions, trials,  suft'erings,  victories ;  for  thus  only  is  the 
great  Captain  of  our  salvation  made  perfect  for  his 
work.  In  this  progress  from  ignorance  to  knowledge, 
from  sorrow  to  joy,  from  the  night  and  blight  of 
earthly  scenes  to  the  triumphant  day  of  the  flnal 
gh)ry,  the  necessities  of  his  soul  would  greatly  vary. 
Sometimes  it  must  be  left  to  its  own  naked  self- 
determination,  and  sometimes  it  might  be  invigorated 
by  the  conscious  union  of  God  with  man,  and  so  all 
through  it  the  varying  discipline  demands  a  corres- 
ponding variety  in  the  conscious  intercommunion  of 
the  divine  nature  with  the  human.  And  thus  ever 
the  necessities  of  this  human  soul  in  its  preparation  to 
be,  and  its  actual  work  in  becoming,  the  Savior  of  men, 
would  be  the  measure  of  the  divine  communication  to 
his  conscious  spirit  of  knowledge  and  strength. 

And,  finally,  I  remark,  that  the  individual  self,  con- 
scious of  Christ's  humanity,  remains  ever  perfect.  It 
is  not  lost  nor  absorbed  but  only  exalted  when  it  is 
tilled  with   the  sense  of  this  union  with  the  divine. 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  147 

The  Son  of  Man  docs  not  vanish  in  the  Son  of  God, 
even  when  he  is  tilled  with  the  divine  fullness  and  his 
nature  is  consciously  pervaded  and  interpenetrated  by 
the  divine  essence.  If  it  were  so,  then  his  exaltation 
to  the  right  hand  of  God  would  strip  him  of  his  con- 
scious brotherhood  with  us,  and  he  would  cease  to  be 
the  sympathizing  brother  and  mediator  who  liveth 
forevermore. 

Before  I  proceed  to  show  you  how  the  facts  in  the 
life  of  Christ  warrant  the  statements  here  made  and 
are  in  harmony  with  them,  suffer  me  to  say  that  the 
position  of  the  objector  to  this  doctrine  of  the  word 
made  ilesh,  is  that  of  ignorance  and  not  of  knowledge. 
N^o  man  is  authorized  to  say,  from  any  knowledge  he 
has  of  God  or  the  soul,  that  such  a  union  of  the  divine 
nature  with  our  humanity  might  not  take  place,  or 
that  for  the  accomplishment  of  an  object  worthy  of 
God,  such  as  the  illustration  of  his  mercy  in  the  salva- 
tion of  men,  it  ought  not  and  would  not  take  place. 
It  becomes  us  to  be  very  modest  in  our  assertions  on 
this  subject.  Why,  how  little  we  know  even  of  our  souls 
and  their  capabilities !  Facts  come  out  now  and  then 
that,  a  few  years  ago,  mental  philosophers  would  have 
pronounced  incredible.  Take  the  fact  that  one  person 
placed  in  contact  with  another,  in  certain  conditions 
of  the  system,  can  will  his  thoughts  into  the  mind  of 
the  other  and  yet  both  retain  their  own  individual 
self-consciousness.  Take  the  facts  of  double  conscious- 
ness. Ask  Dr.  Gray,  or  Kelly,  and  he  will  tell  you 
that,  in  certain  diseased  conditions,  the  same  individual 
has  one  consciousness  of  a  certain  kind  and  another 
underlying  it  of  a  totally  different  kind.  Take  the 
case  of  Miss   Jieynolds,  of  Meadville,  Penus3-lvania. 


148  SERMONS   ON    THE 

The  facts  were  related  t©  me  thirty  years  ago,  by  a 
classmate,  her  nephew,  and  have  since  been  published 
by  Dr.  Plumer,  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  1860.  When 
a  girl,  of  some  sixteen  years  of  age,  she  awoke  from 
sleep  having  lost  all  memory  and  all  consciousness  of 
her  past  life.  She  was  a  woman  in  body  and  capacity, 
but  an  infant  in  knowledge.  She  had  to  be  retanght 
every  thing.  Again  in  sleep  she  passed  back  into  her 
former  state  and  awoke  in  the  full  consciousness  of 
her  former  life.  Thus  she  passed  backward  and  for- 
ward from  one  state  of  consciousness  to  another,  until 
she  finally  settled  in  her  abnormal  or  secondary  state ; 
and  the  most  remarkable  fact  attending  it  was  that 
on  her  return  to  one  state  she  entered  into  the  same 
train  of  thought  and  feeling  and  act  which  she  was 
following  when  she  passed  out,  although  months  had 
sometimes  intervened.  Now  what  do  you  say  to  such 
facts?  and  how  does  it  become  you  to  be  modest  in 
talking  about  the  nature  of  God  and  your  own  soul. 
That  soul  has  capacities  and  powers  you  dream  not  of. 
Made  in  the  image  of  God,  it  will  live  and  develope 
forever.  And  if  God  has  seen  fit  to  become  incarnate 
in  humanity,  by  what  light  or  power  of  reason  can 
you  afiirm  that  it  is  false  ? 

Let  us  now  recall  the  points  I  have  stated,  and  see 
how  they  harmonize  with  the  life  of  Christ.  Remem- 
ber that  we  have  in  this  union  a  complete  sinless  hu- 
manity, subject  to  the  same  laws,  temptations,  and 
sufierings  which  control  and  att'cct  all  our  race,  and 
that  here  the  inferior  is  dependent  upon  the  superior 
for  divine  manifestations  to  itself.  Jesus  in  his  in- 
fancy and  childhood  is  truly  and  simply  a  sinless  in- 
fant, a  sinless  child,  though  Lord  of  all.     For  then  the 


LIFE    OF   CHEIST.  149 


necessities  of"  his  lite  deniaudecl,  uot  the  conscious 
presence  of  tlie  divine,  bnt  the  full  and  free  play  of  all 
his  human  powers,  according  to  the  laws  of  growth 
and  development.  How  soon  the  superior  nature 
diffused  the  consciousness  of  this  union  through  the 
young  soul  we  can  not  tell.  It  may  be  that  as  the  babe 
gradually  Avakcs  to  the  consciousness  of  a  mother's  love, 
as  God  sends  the  dawn  before  the  sun,  so  this  wonderful 
fact  gradually  dawned  upon  it.  His  answer  to  his 
mother  in  the  temple  indicates  the  consciousness  of 
something  unusual  in  his  relation  to  the  Father.  But 
as  his  nature  ripens  into  manhood,  his  heavenly,  his 
divine  part  unfolds  itself  within  him,  until  he  comes 
to  dwell  in  the  very  bosom  of  God. 

Here,  then,  is  a  hoi}'  soul  in  conscious  union  with 
the  divine  nature.  It  is  here  on  earth;  sin,  pain, 
disease,  death,  are  all  round  it.  Look  wliere  he  will, 
the  baleful  form  of  sin  is  there.  It  throbs  in  the  air; 
it  walks  the  earth ;  it  nestles  in  the  heart.  Listen 
when  he  may,  the  cries  of  suffering  are  in  his  ear. 
Standing  in  God's  presence,  he  knows  the  course  and 
end  of  justice.  He  is  exquisitel}'  sensitive  to  it  all. 
He  loathes,  jat  he  pities.  He  feels  this  world  of  evil 
all  round  him ;  in  his  mind  and  heart  he  holds  the  in- 
finite love  of  God.  Then  breaks  in  upon  him  the 
magnificent  scheme  of  redemption,  from  his  own  di- 
vine nature.  He  is  to  suffer,  he  is  to  die,' for  the  sins 
of  men.  The  human  soul,  now  irradiated  by  the  light 
of  God,  freely  consecrates  itself  to  the  work,  and  the 
Messiah  is  manifested  to  the  world.  Henceforth  he 
bears  about  with  him,  on  one  side,  the  conscious  dignity 
of  God  ;  on  the  other,  the  consciousness  of  a  sufferer  for 
the  sins  of  men.     jS"ow  he  is  led  hither  and  thither, 


150    .  SERMOTs^S    ON    THE 

through  the  mightiest  temptations,  by  the  Prince  of 
Darkness  ;  and  now  he  speaks,  and  demons  fly  from 
him.  Kow  he  is  wearied,  and  sleeps,  and  hungers; 
and  'now  he  stills  the  winds,  and  creates  the  food  of 
thousands.  Now  he  prays  as  a  dependent ;  and  now 
he  afiirras  that  he  is  in  heaven.  Now  he  weeps  at  the 
grave  of  Lazarus  ;  and  then  he  hids  that  grave  give 
its  dust  back  to  life.  Now  he  washes  his  disciples' 
feet ;  and  then  he  says  :  "  He  that  liatli  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father."  Now  he  declares  that  some  things 
are  hidden  from  him  ;  and  then  that  all  power  is  com- 
mitted to  him.  Now  he  weeps  in  agony  in  the  garden ; 
and  then  he  heals  with  a  touch  the  cleft  ear  of  an  en- 
emy.  Now  he  stands  thorn-crowned  and  silent  be- 
fore Pilate ;  then  he  declares  he  has  but  to  ask,  to  will, 
and  legions  of  angels  would  flash  their  terrible  bright- 
ness upon  his  foes.  Now  he  is  on  the  mount  of  trans- 
figuration; and  now  he  is  girt  round  with  the  terrors 
of  hell.  Now  he  hangs  a  tortured,  bleeding  sufl[erer 
upon  the  cross ;  and  then  he  converts  a  malefactor, 
and  opens  paradise  to  his  departing  spirit.  Now  he 
feels  the  consciousness  of  divine  abandonment  as  he 
sinks  under  the  sins  of  men;  and  now  he  cries  in 
triumph  "it  is  finished."  Now  his  body  lies  in  the 
embrace  of  death  ;  and  now,  with  divine  life,  he  re- 
enters it.  Now  he  walks  to  the  top  of  Olivet ;  and 
then  he  rises  to  the  right-hand  of  the  Majesty  on  High. 
Thus,  all  through  his  wonderful  life,  these  two  natures, 
that  formed  this  one  person,  God  made  flesh,  appear 
in  sublime 'contrast.  These  contrasts  incessantly  re- 
j)eat  themselves;  you  can  not  get  round  them,  you 
can  not  ignore  them,  and  be  just  to  the  original.  You 
can  not  reconcile  or  harmonize  the  life  of  Jesus,  except 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  151 

on  tliu  }»riiic'i[)lc  of  the  text,  thut  liis  pei*.-?on  is  com- 
posite, divine  and  human.  All  attempts  to  write  or 
comprehend  this  life,  from  one  side  of  it  alone,  alwaj's 
have  been, and  must  be, failures;  just  as  a  physician  who 
treats  man  as  wholly  animal,  or  wholly  spiritual — or  a 
philosopher  who  writes  of  Immanity  as  subject  to  and 
developing  under  only  one  class  of  laws,  and  takes  no 
notice  of  the  action  and  reaction  of  the  intellectual, 
the  moral,  and  the  physical — will  fail  in  the  compre- 
hensiveness and  the  linal  truthfulness  of  his  conclu- 
sions. The  life  of  Christ  is  not  a  tissue  woven  of 
thread  of  silver  alone,  or  gold  alone.  It  is  the  com- 
mingling of  the  intense  brightness  of  divinity  and  the 
intense  darkness  into  which  humanity  sometimes 
sinks.  The  assumptions  and  the  exercise  of  divine 
attributes  are  shaded  oft"  into  the  weakness  and  sor- 
row of  the  iinite  soul.  To  be  in  a  position  to  attain 
just  views  of  such  a  life,  three  things  are  essential : 
1st.  The  recognition  of  the  fact  that  he  who  was  in 
the  form  of  God  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant, 
constituting  the  divine  and  human  in  one  person.  2d. 
The  relations  of  these  natures  to  each  other ;  the 
one  as  the  superior,  the  other  as  the  dependent. 
And  3.  The  grand  object  for  which  this  union  was 
consummated,  the  redemption  of  men.  Lose  sight  of 
citlier  of  these  things,  and  this  life  of  Christ  is  not 
truly  apprehended  nor  really  known ;  the  temptation 
in  the  wilderness  is  meaningless ;  the  agony  in  the 
garden  inexplicable,  and  the  entire  life  of  Christ  a 
fearful  discord  in  the  universe.  But  take  this  posi- 
tion, on  which  the  church  has  ever  stood  since  he  as- 
cended, and  this  life  is  the  life  and  light  of  the  world, 
the  source  of  human  redemption,  the   sublime  liar- 


152  SERMONS   ON    THE 

mony  of  law,  justice,  and  mercy,  a  living  power  of 
renovation  descending  into  the  corruption  of  the 
race,  the  radiant  center  of  influence  for  the  remolding 
man  in  the  image  of  God,  comforting  him  amidst  his 
sorrows,  purging  away  his  pollutions,  correcting  his 
errors,  enlarging  and  glorifying  his  intelligence,  min- 
istering a  living  impulse  to  his  elevation  and  pro- 
gress in  a  sublime  life,  giving  supremacy  to  the  kin- 
dred powers  of  love  and  faith  in  society,  opening  to 
him  the  gates  of  heaven  and  the  final  perfection  of  the 
sons  of  God.  The  wonders  which  the  life  of  Christ 
has  already  wrought  in  the  world,  the  revolutions  it 
has  inaugurated,  the  idolatries  it  has  broken,  the  phil- 
osophies it  has  exploded,  the  darkness  and  supersti- 
tion it  has  enlightened,  the  science  it  has  created,  the 
new  and  wondrous  religious  life  it  has  breathed  into 
millions,  and  the  enterprises  of  faith  for  the  conquest 
of  the  world  it  has  started  and  maintained,  the  con- 
flicts it  has  fought  with  all  human  and  Satanic  forces, 
and  the  amazing  victories  it  has  won,  demonstrate  this 
glorious  fact  in  history — "The  Word  made  flesh." 
Here  to-night  are  many  who,  in  their  own  rich  expe- 
rience, aflirm  the  blessedness  of  this  truth,  "God 
manifest  in  flesh."  To  you  and  to  me  Christ  holds  a 
personal  relation  in  his  divinity  and  humanity;  the 
one  consecrating,  ennobling,  giving  saving  eflicacy  to 
the  temptations,  the  obedience,  and  the  sufterings  of 
the  other.  Here  to-night  you  feel  the  wondrous  har- 
mony, sublimity,  and  glory  of  this  living  Christ,  and 
3'ou  say :  "  My  Lord  and  my  God !  Henceforth  my  life 
shall  be  a  sacrifice  of  faith  and  love  to  thee."  And  to 
you,  men  and  women  of  the  world,  Jesus  appeals  to- 
night.    Remember  that  only  to  those  who  received 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  153 

liim  (lid  he  give  tlic  l)Icssednoss  of  becoming  sons  ot 
God.     Kemeinber  how  the  world  in  its  pride  and  self- 
conceit  knew  him  not,  spat  upon  him,  trod  in  wrath 
npon  him,  nailed  him  in  midhcavens  to  the  tree — /(«/», 
the   loving,    compassionate,   suffering    Son    of    God! 
Oh,  my  blessed,  divine  liedeemer !     I  was  there  witlO 
the  world.     I  helped  to  drive  the  nails  that  pierced. 
And  yet  thou  prayed  for  them.     Thou  hast  forgiven 
me!     And  yon,  impenitent  soul,  standing  here  amidst 
the  light  of  the  gospel,  yet  rejecting  the  crucitied,  you 
too  he  waits  to  receive,  to  forgive,  to  bless  "with  peace 
and  joy  and  hope.     The  world  is  all  3'ou  have  or  seek 
— a  workl  that  despises  and  deceives  while  it  may 
flatter  you ;  a  world  that  M'ill  vanish  away  and  leave 
you  dark,  hopeless,  oppressed  with  sin,  hastening  to 
meet  the  appalling  vision  of  judgment  and  a  Savior 
rejected.     AVhat  power  of  evil,  what  Satanic  influence 
holds  you  fast  in  the  chains  of  unbelief,  and  blinds 
your  poor  soul  to  the  amazing  realities  of  sin,  judg- 
ment, redemption.     Oh,  sin !  sin  !  how  awful  thy  ty- 
ranny.    Oh,  Christ,  my  Lord!  thou,  thou   only  canst 
break  its  power,  and  draw  these  earth-bound  souls  to  , 
thy  cross. 


154  SERMONS   ON    THE 


IX. 


THE    TEMPTATION  (NO.  2) — CHRIST    LED    INTO    THE  WILDER- 
NESS. 

^^And  immediately  the  Spirit  driveth  him  into  tJie  wil- 
derness. And  lie  was  there  in  the  ivilderness  forty  days, 
tem2-)ted  of  >SV/to?^."— Mark  i,  12,  13;  Mattli.  iv,  1-11; 
Luke  iv,  1-13. 

The  baptism  is  over.  Instantly  the  scene  changes. 
Manifested  to  John  as  the  Messiali,  and  thus  seem- 
ingly ready  for  his  work,  instead  of  at  once  entering 
upon  it,  Jesus  is  removed  from  the  eyes  of  men. 
Lying  between  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Jerusa- 
lem tliere  is  a  wild  and  rocky  region.  Wild  beasts 
find  a  refuge  in  it.  Human  habitations  are  not  there. 
Robbers  sometimes  haunted  it.  A  place  of  desolation, 
of  wild,  rugged  grandeur,  terrible  in  aspect.  From 
the  excited  throngs  that  gathered  around  the  Baptist, 
Jesus  passes  into  this  lonely  wilderness ;  he  is  hidden 
here  as  effectually  as  if  he  were  in  another  land.  For 
forty  days  he  abides  here  in  solitude  before  he  again 
emerges  into  the  world.  This  change  startles  by  its 
abruptness ;  it  is  something  no  man  would  have  ever 
thouglit  of  inventing.  It  puzzles  exceedingly  our 
humanitarian  philosophers;  it  is  so  out  of  harmony 
with  their  preconceived  notions  of  what  the  character 
of  Jesus  is  or  ought  to  be ;  the  facts  stated  in  connec- 
tion with  it  are  so  evidently  above  their  reach,  that 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  155 

tliey  are  driven  to  get  rid  of  tliem  as  far  as  possible 
without  dcstrojiiig  utterly  the  scene  itself.  As  the 
silk  worm  spins  his  delicate  fiber  out  of  his  bowels,  so 
these  men  out  of  their  brains  spin  beautiful  theories 
to  account  for  the  temptation.  Fortunately,  like  all 
men  who  take  partial  views,  their  speculations  carry 
their  own  antidote.  You  read  one,  and  it  seems  plau- 
sible, particularly  if  you  do  not  compare  it  with  the 
Scripture  narrative ;  you  road  another,  and  it  too  is 
very  pretty,  but  entirely  different;  you  read  another 
and  another,  and  by  that  time  you  conclude  they  know 
nothing  of  Christ,  for  it  would  take  a  dozen  different 
Christs  to  answer  all  the  conditions  of  their  diverse 
theories.  They  are  clearl}'  men  out  of  position  ;  you 
would  think  from  their  assumed  confidence  that  they 
had  been  with  Jesus  when  he  discoursed  with  his  dis- 
ciples on  tiiese  subjects,  and  had  fairly  seen  the  inner- 
most Avorkings  of  his  soul.  But  when  you  compare 
the  results  they  reach  witli  each  other  and  with  the 
Scripture,  you  are  perfectly  convinced  that  they  know 
nothing  of  the  subject  they  are  writing  about.  They 
are  outside  and  in  too  low  a  position  to  understand 
Jesus  at  all,  A  parcel  of  idiots  under  Dr.  Wilbur's 
training,  at  Syracuse,  could  attain  more  truthful  views 
than  these  cultured  and  able  minds,  for  this  reason  : 
they  have  not  the  key  and  the  door  is  shut.  A  man 
outside  of  one  of  our  factories  sees  men  and  women 
spinning,  all  in  utter  confusion.  But  let  him  once 
enter  the  building;  see  the  great  wheel  communi- 
cating its  im[iulse  to  every  other  wheel  and  spindle, 
and  men  and  women  each  in  his  or  her  own  place, 
and  at  once  the  confusion  vanishes;  order  rises. 
The  simple  facts,  seen  from  the  right  position,  are 


156  SEKMONS   ON    THE 


wortli  a  thousand  theories.  These  men  have  phxnted 
themselves  outside  the  great  facts  of  Christianity; 
they  do  not  believe  in  the  supernatural ;  they  reject 
the  divine  mission  of  the  Son  of  God:  and  from  such 
a  position  they  may  busy  themselves  to  all  ctertiity 
in  spinning  theories  like  that  of  "Ecce  Homo,"  or 
Schenkel,  or  Strauss,  or  Hume,  and  the  result  will  be 
only  confusion,  disorder,  falsehood.  Our  business  is 
to  take  the  facts  as  we  iind  them  in  the  sacred  narra- 
tives, and  interpret  them  in  the  harmony  of  their  re- 
lations and  the  grand  end  of  Christ's  life.  These  are 
the  evidence,  and  all  the  evidence.  If,  in  a  court  of 
law,  a  witness  should  draw  on  his  imagination  for  his 
facts,  he  would  be  condemned  to  the  state's  prison  for 
perjury,  and  rightly  too.  And  when,  in  these  matters 
of  inlinitely  greater  interest,  a  man  deliberately  puts 
aside  the  facts  and  substitutes  his  own  baseless  imagi- 
nations, he  incurs  the  guilt  and  will  receive  the  con- 
demnation of  him  who  both  adds  to  and  takes  from 
the  inspired  word. 

Let  us,  then,  warned  b}^  the  errors  and  failures  of 
others,  take  the  facts  of  this  wonderful  life,  and  en- 
deavor to  interpret  them  in  harmony  with  themselves 
and  the  whole  character  and  work  of  Christ. 

1.  The  first  point  that  demands  attention  is  the 
peculiar  influence  under  which  Jesus  makes  this  sud- 
den transition  from  the  Jordan  to  the  desert.  Matthew 
and  Luke  use  substantially  the  same  terms  in  describ- 
ing it.  He  was  led  or  conducted  by  the  Spirit — the 
Holy  Ghost.  But  Mark,  more  grapliic,  as  is  his  wont, 
employs  a  more  intense  word — He  is  driven,  or  di- 
vinely impelled  into  the  wilderness.  A  divine  force 
is  put  upon  him  in  opposition  to  his  natural  inclina- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  157 

tion.  He  uses  the  same  term  wliieli  is  elsewhere  em- 
ployed ill  reference  to  the  expulsion  of  demons  from 
the  bodies  of  men  ;  so  that  here  in  the  beginning  of 
this  scene  we  have  the  stamp  of  a  divine  power  ex- 
erted to  accomplish  a  divine  purpose.  It  is  to  be 
accounted  for  wholly  on  supernatural  principles.  The 
key  to  its  meaning  is  found  in  the  single  fact  which 
meets  us  at  the  outset.  This,  however,  puzzles  and  con- 
founds the  natural  theorists.  On  their  principles,  the 
divine  Spirit  has  no  place  here.  They  must  account 
for  everything  on  the  low  plane  of  human  nature  ; 
and  losing  sight  of  this  first  and  most  significant  fact, 
their  speculations  are  worth  no  more  than  the  paper 
on  which  they  are  written.  It  is  obvious  that  when 
you  set  aside  this  divine  influence,  necessitating  this 
scene  in  the  wilderness,  it  is  impossible,  on  natural 
principles,  to  account  for  it.  It  is  said  that  at  his 
baptism  the  idea  first  took  possession  of  Jesus  that  he 
was  to  be  a  great  reformer  of  the  church,  and  he  re- 
tired into  the  Avilderness  to  mature  his  plans  and  j)re- 
pare  himself  for  his  work.  l>ut  the  facts  here  arc  all 
assumed  to  harmonize  with  preconceived  notions.  How 
do  they  know  that  now  for  the  first  time  such  an  idea 
entered  the  mind  of  Jesus  ?  No  such  fact  is  stated 
in  the  narratives;  the  op[)Osite  is  very  plainly  indi- 
cated. But  why  should  Christ  enter  into  the  wilder- 
ness for  forty  days  ?  He  was  no  ascetic  ;  his  life  and 
temperament  and  training  were  wholly  unlike  those 
of  the  Baptist.  He  mingled  with  men  ;  he  was  free, 
genial,  social,  delighting  in  all  the  sweet  relationships 
of  human  society.  His  nature  was  all  attuned  to  the 
tender  harmonies  of  social  life.  He  had,  indeed,  Jiis 
hours  of  retirement  and  devotion,  just  as  every  human 


158  SERMONS   ON    THE 

soul  that  would  live  near  to  God  in  this  world  must 
have  ;  but  they  were  short,  and  he  soon  returned  to 
society.  In  his  whole  life  tliere  is  nothing  like  this 
wilderness  scene.  On  natural  principles  we  should 
suY)pose  that  when  he  had  once  been  publicly  recog- 
nized by  his  forerunner,  he  would  immediately  have 
addressed  himself  to  his  work.  As  the  bugle  call 
to  the  warrior,  so  the  woes  of  humanity,  in  its  sor- 
row and  corruption,  would  have  summoned  him  to 
enter  at  once  upon  the  conflict.  This  would  have 
been  the  natural  impulse  of  his  warm  and  earnest 
soul.  But  nature  is  overruled  by  the  divine  Spirit* 
A  power  mightier  than  nature,  in  opposition  to  all  its 
tendencies,  drives  him  out  of  the  world  of  man  into 
the  wilderness.  And  this,  utterly  unaccountable  on 
merely  human  principles,  we  shall  see  at  length,  is  in 
entire  harmony  with  the  divine  character  he  possessed 
and  the  divine  work  he  was  to  perform  among  men. 
The  divine  power  and  purpose  attends  him  at  every 
step  of  his  mission,  and  it  is  only  by  recognizing  it 
we  shall  be  able  to  unlock  the  mysteries  and  hear  the 
harmonies  of  his  grand  life. 

2.  I^ow  let  us  look  at  t)ur  second  point — the  immedi- 
ate purpose  for  which  he  is  thus  driven  into  the  wilder- 
ness. This  is  explicitly  stated  to  be — temptation,  trial. 
On  this  point  the  sacred  writers  are  unanimous  and 
emphatic.  They  leave  nothing  to  be  inferred  and 
nothing  to  be  added.  It  was  not  to  form  his  plans  for 
the  future;  it  was  to  be  tempted.  It  was  not  for 
the  direct  purpose  of  prayer  and  communion  with 
God;  it  was  trial.  The  divine  act  in  compelling  him 
to  go  there,  and  the  divine  purpose  in  it,  flames  forth 
distinctly  in  the  sacred  record  and  gives  it  a  divine 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  159 

liiirinony.  i\o\v,  it  is  impossible  that  a  pure  being, 
independent  of  any  call  of  duty,  could,  with  his  eyes 
open,  have  thns  courted  temptation.  Jesus  expressly 
makes  part  of  the  prayer  he  taught  his  disciples,  the 
I)etition,  "  lead  us  not  into  temptation."  He  exhorts 
his  disciples  to  Avatch  against  it.  He  could  no  more 
have  gone  self-impelled  into  such  a  scene  tlian  he 
would  have  entered,  without  cause,  a  furnace  of  iire. 
It  was  the  divine  will  that  bore  him  thither,  for  this 
one  object.  Our  natural  theorists  and  speculators  see 
this  clearly  enough,  and  they  deliberately  proceed  to 
get  over  it  by  putting  it  out  of  sight.  Jesus  goes  into 
the  wilderness  merely  to  meditate  and  think  over  his 
future  plans  ;  and  then,  while  thus  emplo^-ed,  he  is 
exposed  to  temptation.  The  temptation  is  not  the 
purpose  to  meet  which  he  is  taken  there;  it  is  only  an 
incident  of  liis  presence  there.  iS"ow,  this  is  to  falsify 
history  in  order  to  suit  a  theory.  It  is  to  make  your 
facts  conform  to  your  theory,  and  not  your  tlieory  to 
the  facts.  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  suppose  the  moon 
was  made  of  cheese,  and  then  pronounce  the  testimony 
given  by  the  telescope  to  be  worthless.  It  is  as  if  a 
man  should  say  the  suspension  bridge  at  Cincinnati 
was  built  on  boats,  and  not  hung  on  stone  piers  at 
either  side  of  the  Ohio.  It  is  more  than  all  this ;  it  is 
a  deliberate  and  wicked  falsification  of  history  ;  it  is 
foisting  into  the  life  of  the  Redeemer  human  imagin- 
ations that  do  not  belong  to  it,  and  jiutting  out  of  it 
the  very  facts  which  the  inspired  witnesses  record  as 
essential  to  it.  The  witnesses,  and  the  only  possible 
witnesses  in  the  case,  tell  us  Christ  went  into  the  wil- 
derness under  the  controlling  and  impelling  influence 
of  the  Divine  Spirit ;  these  men  say  he  went  there  on 


/ 


160  SERMONS   ON   THE 

his  own  motion.  They  say  he  was  driven  there  ex- 
pressly in  order  to  be  tried ;  these  affirm  he  went 
there  to  meditate  his  plans  of  future  action.  Christ's 
life  is  treated  very  much  as  he  was  when  on  earth. 
Then  Pharisee  and  Sadducee  joined  in  misinterpreting 
his  words,  in  crowning  his  head  with  thorns,  and 
hanging  his  body  on  the  cross.  Our  moderns  crucify 
his  historic  life,  spiking  it  to  the  cross  with  their  mis- 
erable assumptions,  and  thrusting  into  it  the  spear  of 
falsehood.  Such  conduct  is  simply  atrocious.  There 
is  neither  honesty,  nor  manliness,  nor  truthfulness,  in 
it.  JSTeither  learning,  nor  wit,  nor  refinement  of  style, 
can  redeem  its  authors  from  the  guilt  of  dishonesty, 
insincerity,  and  moral  perjur3^  Let  us  remember  that 
the  only  authority  in  the  world  capable  of  testifying 
declares  that  the  divine  purpose  in  taking  Christ  into 
the  wilderness  was  that  he  might  be  tempted.  Here 
we  rest  on  our  second  point. 

3.  I  pass  now  to  our  third  point — the  temptation — 
with  the  design,  hereafter,  of  discussing  the  several 
temptations  by  themselves.  I  shall  limit  myself  here 
to  some  observations  on  the  general  subject :  (1)  This 
is  a  true  temptation.  Anything  that  is  adapted  to 
move  the  heart  of  man  away  from  God,  or  that  tends 
to  lead  us  to  sul)stitute  our  will  in  the  place  of  the 
divine,  is  a  temptation.  When  a  young  man  is  con- 
sidering the  duty  of  personal  religion,  and  the  world 
with  its  present  attractions  urges  him  to  take  a  course 
independent  of  God — this  is  a  temptation.  It  is  God's 
will  that  every  person  shall  keep  his  thoughts  and 
heart  pure,  and  hold  the  family  relation  sacred ;  when 
then,  0[tp()rtunitics  present  themselves  for  the  indulg- 
ence of  passion    in  \ioUitiun    ul'  this   law,  llicy  eonsti- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  161 

tiitc  a  temptation.  Now  what  the  sacred  narratives 
affirm  is,  that  Christ  was  placed  in  just  such  circum- 
stances ;  that  there  was  brought  to  bear  upon  liimintlu- 
ences  adapted  to  lead  liim  to  substitute  liis  human  will 
and  pleasure  in  the  place  of  the  divine  will  and  pleas- 
ure. In  other  words,  this  is  no  imaginary,  but  a  real 
temptation ;  just  such  as  humanity  is  called  to  meet 
everywhere.  In  him  our  hunuinity,  without  sin,  was 
tried  by  the  temptation  to  sin.  The  second  Adam  is 
tried  as  was  the  Urst. 

(2)  Consider  next  the  special  conditionsof  the  temp- 
tation. These  are  two :  the  practical  isolation  of  Christ 
from  human  society,  and  the  fasting  for  forty  days. 
These  conditions  arc  bound  up  with  the  temptation,  so 
as  to  form  with  it  a  connected  Avhole.  Mark  and  Luke 
expressly  state  this  when  they  speak  of  Christ  as  being 
tempted  for  forty  days.  You  can  not  separate  this  wil- 
derness life  of  fasting  from  the  temjitation.  Christ 
could  have  fasted  elsewhere ;  he  could  be  and  subse- 
quentl}^  was  tempted  in  the  midst  of  human  society. 
But  now  both  these  conditions  must  bo  united  with  the 
temptation.  There  is  a  divine  signihcance  in  them. 
I  only  bring  out  this  significance.  I  only  logically 
and  fairly  interpret  these  facts,  when  I  say  they  were 
designed  to  give  full  effect  to  the  temptation ;  to  place 
the  humanity  of  Christ  in  a  position  to  be  tried  and 
tested  in  the  fullest  manner.  Every  one  knows  that 
the  power  of  temptation  varies  indefinitely  with  the 
circumstances  and  conditions  of  life.  A  beggar  might 
be  mightily  tempted  to  do  that  which  the  same  person 
in  the  possession  of  thousands  would  scorn;  a  miser 
may  let  go  his  gold  to  save  his  life;  a  profligate  may 
14 


U 


/ 


162  SERMONS   ON    THE 

be  virtuous  amidst  scenes  of  sorrow  and  death.  The 
conditions  in  which  a  man  is  placed  give  force  or 
weakness  to  temptation.  Hazael  is  loyal  enough  be- 
fore the  prophet ;  when  circumstances  changed,  he  be- 
came a  traitor  and  a  regicide.  I  might  speculate  here 
on  the  influence  of  these  conditions  on  the  jjure  soul 
of  Jesug;  but  I  will  not.  As  an  interpreter  of  the 
facts,  all  that  is  needful  for  me  to  state,  or  you  to  know, 
is,  that  they  found  the  conditions  for  the  most  effective 
trial  of  our  humanity  in  Christ  Jesus.  God  ordered 
this  temptation  in  just  these  circumstances  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  it  most  efiective.  To  this  end  tliey 
were  essential,  and  so,  in  the  sacred  narrative,  they  are 
all  logically  and  fitly  bound  together,  as  one  compre- 
hensive whole.  Our  Sadduceean  theorists  separate 
them — ignore  the  first  and  speculate  only  on  the 
second.  In  so  doing,  they  only  illustrate  the  falsity  of 
their  criticism,  and  the  willfulness  of  their  unbelief. 

(3)  Here  let  us  notice  that  the  specific  temptations 
recorded  are  all  addressed  to  natural  principles,  or  to 
susceptibilities  and  desires  that  belong  to  our  nature.' 
The  bodily  appetites ;  the  desire  of  reputation  ;  the  love 
of  power,  and  the  desire  to  exercise  it ;  all  enter  into 
our  humanity.  They  were  all  in  Adam  before  he  fell. 
They  constitute  in  part  the  happ}''  elements  of  our  orig- 
inal nature.  In  itself,  that  constitution  is  just  as  pure, 
just  as  good,  as  that  of  the  angels.  I^either  the  pos- 
session nor  the  indulgence  of  them  is  necessarily  sinful. 
God  made  man  upright,  and  his  handiwork  is  per- 
fection. Sin  lies  in  the  indulgence  of  them  contrary 
to  the  divine  will;  it  is  man  assuming  the  right  of 
supremacy,  and  putting  himself  on  God's  throne  ;  it 
is  self-will  carrying  it  over  the  will  of  the  Creator, 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  163 

and  making  man  himself  his  law  and  his  end.  Holi- 
ness is  just  the  opposite.  It  is  man  submitting  his  will 
to  that  of  his  Heavenly  Father;  man  controling  and 
directing  all  his  powers  in  harmony  with  this  divine 
constitution.  Neither  sin  nor  holiness  is  in  the  desires  ' 
and  susceptibilities  of  his  nature.  Sin,  indeed,  in  its 
reflex  influence,  has  aftected  them,  exaggerating,  in- 
tensifying them  into  uncontrolable  lusts.  But  orig- 
inally it  was  not  so;  in  Christ's  pure  nature  it  was 
not  so.  These  were  in  him  in  all  their  original  purity 
and  harmony.  He  was  not  an  angel  lifted  above  our 
sphere.  He  was  here  in  our  nature,  possessed  of  our 
humanity.  And  just  here  was  the  poiijt  of  assault  for 
temptation  ;  just  here  man  at  first  was  assailed,  and 
here  he  fell.  Here,  on  those  human  susceptibilities 
and  desires,  Satan  concentrates  all  his  devilish  power. 
He  does  not  address  him  as  angel ;  he  comes  down  to 
his  humanity  ;  and  recognizing  in  him  the  Son  of 
God  in  our  nature,  he  aims  to  defile  and  dishonor  that 
nature  by  enslaving  its  pure  and  innocent  desires  to 
his  own  devilish  yoke.  And  the  conditions  in  which 
Christ  was  placed  gave  the  highest  power  to  those 
temptations.  His  utter  isolation,  his  protracting  fast- 
ing, the  pangs  of  hunger,  the  sense  of  weakness  in  his 
humanity  while  yet  united  with  that  which  was  di- 
vine, opened  his  soul  to  the  assaults  of  the  tempter. 
This  fact  diminished,  if  it  did  not  annihilate,  the  dis- 
tance created  by  his  holiness  between  his  nature  and 
ours  in  respect  to  the  susceptibility  of  temptation. 
It  placed  him  more  perfectly  on  our  level,  and  thus, 
while  standing  erect  in  his  sublime  purity,  it  brought 
him  more  perfectly  into  sympathy  with  our  fallen 
humanity.     He  was  tempted  just  as  we  are;  he  felt 


164  SERMONS    ON    THE 

tlie  same  solicitations  to  evil  iiidulgoiico  tliat  we  feel  ; 
the  same  subtle  temptations  assailed  him  that  are  at 
■work  in  us.  But  this  is  the  amazing  difference  be- 
tween us — we  yield,  while  he  repels ;  we  let  sin  enter, 
while  he  puts  his  foot  upon  the  tempter  and  treads 
him  in  the  dust. 

In  this  connection  permit  me  to  notice  a  form  of 
statement  on  this  subject  which  seems  to  me  adapted 
to  make  an  erroneous  impression.  It  is  sometimes 
said  that  the  temptation  was  not  inioard ;  that  it  was 
wholly  without  the  soul  of  Christ.  Now,  there  can 
not  be  a  temptation  that  is  not  inward  ;  otlierwise,  it 
is  no  temptation  at  all.  If  it  is  meant  that  the  tempt- 
ation did  not  originate  in  Christ  himself,  the  sentiment 
is  true,  but  the  form  of  statement  exceedingly  defect- 
ive. Sin  lies  in  the  disposition  or  the  purpose.  And 
the  very  design  of  Satan  was  to  create  this  disposition 
and  form  this  purpose  in  the  pure  mind  of  Jesus. 
The  temptation  came  from  without.  Eut  if  it  is 
meant  that  in  Christ  there  were  no  desires  which 
temptation  could  address,  the  statement  is  false.  The 
appetites  were  innocent,  the  desires  were  innocent, 
and  their  objects  were  good  in  themselves.  And  the 
whole  purpose  of  Satan  was  to  lead  Christ  to  gratify 
them  independently  of  the  divine  will  ;  to  make  that 
which  was  good  minister  to  sin.  Jesus  penetrates 
the  design  ;  he  repels  the  temptation  ;  he  will  not 
have  the  good  unless  it  is  stamped  with  the  divine 
signature.  lie  crucifies  self-will.  He  denies  himself. 
He  moves  not  the  shadow  of  an  inclination  off  from 
the  appointed  path  of  obedience.  And  thus  he  be- 
came to  us  our  leader,  the  Captain  of  our  Salvation. 

4.  We  come  now  to  the  discussion  of  our  fourth 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  165 

l)oiiit,  and  the  oiil}-  one  remaining  for  ns  to  consider 
at  this  time.  A\^hat  is  the  object  or  import  of  this 
scene  in  the  wilderness?  To  comprehend  tliis,  we 
must  rise  above  the  low  and  limited  conception  of 
earthly  minds  to  those  grand  and  comprehensive  views 
which  Jesus  unfolds  in  his  teachings  and  illustrates  in 
his  life.  There  is  a  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  there  is 
a  kingdom  of  this  world.  The  one  is  a  kingdom  of 
light,  the  other  of  darkness;  the  one  is  full  of  holiness, 
the  other  of  sin ;  one  is  harmony,  the  other  is  discord  ; 
one  is  life,  the  other  is  death ;  one  is  divine,  the 
other  is  devilish.  Christ  represents  to  the  spirit,  the 
aims,  the  life  of  one,  and  Satan  those  of  the  other. 
These  kingdoms  are  in  perpetual  conflict.  One  is 
struggling  to  lift  man  nearer  to  God,  the  other  to 
keep  him  separate  forever.  One  opens  the  portals  of 
heaven  to  our  fallen  humanity,  the  other  opens  the 
gates  of  hell.  One  seeks  to  bring  the  human  will  into 
obedience  to  and  harmony  with  that  of  God,  the  other 
enthrones  self-will,  and  would  make  man  the  slave  of 
his  own  rampant  and  misdirected  passions.  One  is 
redemption  from  the  power  and  punishment  of  sin  ; 
the  other  is  slavery,  condemnation,  death  eternal. 
Jesus  Christ  represents  redemption,  holiness,  life,  the 
kingdom  in  which  God  is  supreme,  and  man  and 
angels  his  harmonious,  loving,  trusting,  happy,  sub- 
jects. For  this  he  became  incarnate  in  our  humanity. 
To  win  this  victory  for  us  he  assumes  our  nature. 
For  it  is  Christ  as  man  who  is  to  fulfill  all  the  condi- 
tions of  a  full  deliverance.  It  is  in  and  through  the 
same  nature  that  has  fallen,  resistance  is  to  be  nuide 
to  the  powers  of  darkness  that  preci[)itated  the  fall. 
Christ,  in  a  pure  human  soul,  is  to  fight  the  battles  of 


166  SERMONS   ON    THE 

humanity,  suffer  its  condemnation,  endure  its  strug- 
gles and  sorrows,  in  order  to  triumph  over  the  Prince 
of  this  world,  and,  as  the  Captain  of  Salvation  made 
perfect  tli rough  sufferings,  lead  many  sons  to  glory. 
Here  in  the  wilderness,  at  tlie  opening  of  Christ's  pub- 
lic ministry,  in  circumstances  most  favorable  to  the 
tempter,  the  representatives  of  these  two  kingdoms 
stand  face  to  face.     There  is  here   a  marshaling    of 
forces  for  the  determination  of  a  question  of  world- 
wide interest;    the  beginning  of  a  personal   conflict 
which,  in  its  final  issues,  involves  the  salvation  of  mill- 
ions.    Milton,  in  his  grandest  descriptions,  never  rose 
to  the  sublimity  of  this  scene.     There  is  here  no  shout 
of  soldiers  rushing  to  battle,  no  sulphurous  cloud  of 
smoke  and  flame,  no  clash  of  deadly  steel.     This  bat- 
tle is  within  the  soul.     l!^ature,  in  her  wild  and  rugged 
forms,  is  silent.     Alone,  all  alone,  Jesus,  conscious  of 
his  wondrous   mission,  meets    the    might}^  prince    of 
darkness,  repels    his    every  assault,  and   presents  his 
whole  humanity  a  living  sacrifice  to  God.     Legions  of 
angels  watch  with  breathless  interest  the  progress  of 
the  conflict.     Then  Jesus  began  that  succession  of  vic- 
tories over  the  powers  of  darkness,  which  culminated 
after  the  agony  on  the  cross  in  those  words  of  lofty 
triumph — "  It  is  flnished." 

Let  us  now  descend  from  this  general  view  to  some 
of  its  more  important  elements.  (1.)  Christ  here  illus- 
trates obedience  to  the  laio  of  God.  The  aim  of  the 
tempter  is  to  induce  him  to  substitute  his  own  will  in 
^  place  of  the  divine.  This  he  eftected  in  the  case  of 
our  flrst  parents.  This  ruined  the  race  ;  this  accom- 
plished in  Jesus,  redemption  is  impossible;  the  Mes- 
siah is  the  subject  of  Satan;  the  supremacy  of  the 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  167 


kingdom  of  the  world  is  cstidilished.  But  Christ 
stands  erect  in  his  obedience ;  he  yiehis  his  whole  life  to 
God.  He  refuses  independence.  He  is  God's  child ; 
God's  will  is  his  law  now  and  forever.  Then  that 
broken,  outraged  law  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as- 
serted its  supremacy  over  a  loving,  obedient  human- 
ity. Then  its  mission  as  man's  rule,  the  harmony  of 
his  powers,  the  inspiration  of  his  life,  was  gloriously 
illustrated.  Henceforth  one  human  soul,  amidst  all 
the  temptations  of  earth,  shines  forth  in  all  the  loveli- 
ness, the  harmon}'  of  a  perfect  obedience.  I  say  one 
human  soul  illustrates  resistance  to  sin  and  perfect 
obedience  to  God.  Bear  in  mind  what  I  sought  to 
impress  upon  you  in  my  last  discourse,  that  in  the 
union  of  the  divine  and  human,  the  superior  nature 
miist  leave  the  inferior  free  to  do  all  the  work 
assigned  it.  And  so  our  humanity,  represented  in 
Christ  Jesus,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  its  own  self- 
conscious  freedom,  with  all  its  susceptibilities  to  tempt- 
ation, with  all  our  original  powers  and  aiiections  in 
free  play,  intelligently  comprehending  the  relations  of 
man  to  God,  indulgence  and  self-denial,  independence 
and  submission,  stood  erect  in  its  integrit}',  and,  in  the 
power  of  a  will  lixed  in  obedience,  bid  the  tempter  de- 
fiance. The  relations  of  this  temptation  to  the  law 
and  redemption  are  fundamental.  Christ  in  a  perfect 
humanity  obeys  the  law  for  us  ;  Christ,  in  an  obedient 
humanity,  suffers  the  penalty  for  us.  Here  begins  the 
triumph  of  law,  the  preparations  for  the  satisfaction 
of  justice.  And  as  it  begins  so  it  ends.  This  life 
through  all  its  varied  scenes  and  contrasted  states  is  a 
sublime  harmony.  Its  key  note  is  redemption,  its  sub- 
lime air  is  obedience ;  its  deep  bass  is  suffering ;  its 


\ 


168  SERMONS   OX    THE 

ins[)ir;itiou  is  love ;  and  millions  of  the  redeemed 
around  the  throne  spontaneously  celebrate  it  in  the 
song  of  the  Lamb. 

(2.)  But  tliere  is  one  other  thought  which  shows  the 
import  and  purpose  of  this  scene  in  light  to  us  pecu- 
liarly encouraging  and  bright.  There  is  one  passage 
of  Scripture  it  illustrates  most  vividly — a  passage  which 
once  instilled  in  our  experience  abides  in  the  heart  as 
a  spring  of  refreshment  amidst  all  the  trials  of  life. 
"For  we  have  not  an  high  priest  that  can  not  be 
touched  (sympathize)  with  our  infirmities,  but  who 
was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  Ave  are,  yet  Avithont 
sin.  Wherefore  let  lis  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy  and  find  grace  to  help 
in  every  time  of  need."  Here  in  the  wilderness  he  ob- 
tains part  of  that  experience  which  made  him  yoiir 
sympathizing  brother  and  high  priest.  Here,  in  the 
hour  of  his  weakness,  he  is  assailed  by  all  the  arts  of 
the  prince  of  darkness.  For  you  he  is  tempted ;  for 
you  he  is  tried  ;  for  you  his  soul  passes  through  these 
stern  experiences ;  for  you  he  is  beset  by  enemies 
fiercer  than  bulls  of  Bashan,  more  ravenous  than 
wolves,  more  deadly  and  malignant  than  adders.  He 
hore  your  humanity,  your  weaknesses,  your  trials  in  his 
soul.  You,  in  all  your  appalling  wretchedness  and  sin, 
were  in  his  thought  and  in  his  heart  when  he  sub- 
jected himself  to  this  conflict.  For  you  he  fought 
this  battle  ;  in  your  place  he  endured  temptation  ;  you 
with  all  your  trials  were  with  him  in  the  wilderness ; 
for  you  he  won  the  victory.  Temptation  was  not  nec- 
essary to  develope  his  character  in  holiness;  it  is  for 
you.  He  is  tempted  that  he  may  succor  and  sympa- 
thize with  you  in  your  temptations.     These  are  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  169 


conditions  of  your  life  on  eartli ;  solicitations  to  sin 
meet  j-ou  at  every  step.  They  spring  up  within  ;  full 
armed  thej^  assail  us  from  without.  They  steal  into 
our  chambers  in  the  hour  of  sorrow;  and  the  stricken 
heart  accuses  God.  They  mingle  in  our  social  joys  ; 
and  eternal  things  are  veiled.  They  are  in  our  studies-, 
in  our  shops,  in  our  stores,  ever  saying  tons:  thou 
shalt  not  die.  Through  these  you  must  pass ;  over 
these  to  heaven,  or  with  these  to  hell,  you  must  march. 
How  shall  thy  poor,  faint,  silly  heart  triumph  over 
such  antagonists  led  on  by  Satan  ?  Only  as  he  who 
led  captivity  captive — as  he,  who  in  this  wilderness 
fought  the  battle  and  won  the  victory,  puts  his  arm 
around  you  and  breathes  his  spirit  into  you,  will  j^ou 
lind  the  strength  that  conquers,  and  win  the  crown 
of  life. 

Some  here  to-night  feel  not  the  full  force  of  this 
truth.  Ye  are  young;  ye  are  strong  ;  ye  are  hopeful. 
Ditficulties  you  scorn.  In  manly  independence,  ye 
are  resolved  to  fight  your  own  battle  of  life.  Ah  !  ye 
know  not  who  and  what  ye  have  to  meet ;  how  subtle, 
how  strong  are  3'our  enemies  without ;  how  great  is 
the  enemy  within  your  own  deceitful  heart. 
15 


170  SERMONS   ON    THE 


X. 

TEMPTATION  (no.  3) — THE  TEMPTEK. 

'■'■Being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil." — Luke  iv,  2. 

The  idea  of  the  existence  of  fallen,  evil  spirits,  out- 
side of  humanity,  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Christian 
Kevelation.  This  truth  has  been  recognized  in  all 
ages  and  among  all  peoples.  It  matters  not  what  was 
their  condition,  whether  civilized  or  barbarous,  learned 
or  ignorant,  in  some  form  this  doctrine  has  had  its 
place  in  their  convictions,  and  has  exerted  a  decided 
influence  upon  their  worship.  The  form  in  which  the 
conviction  was  clothed  may  and  does  differ,  but  the 
conviction  itself,  so  far  as  we  can  know,  is  universal. 
You  find  it  alike  among  the  nations  settled  around  the 
original  centers  of  civilization,  and  in  those  that  have 
wandered  into  the  forests  of  this  continent.  InTow  all 
universal  beliefs  must  be  traced  to  one  of  two  sources — 
either  (1)  to  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind, 
which,  in  the  ordinary  working  of  society,  necessitates 
their  formation  ;  or  (2)  to  an  original  revelation,  made 
to  the  race  at  its  beginning,  and  preserved  with  more 
or  less  vividness  by  tradition.  According  to  the  first, 
the  condition  of  mankind,  the  outbreakings  of  evil 
from  it,  generates  infallibly  or  inevitably  the  belief 
that  there  are  powers  of  evil  superior  to  man  invested 
with  a  certain  influence  upon  him.  According  to  the 
second,  the  fall  itself,  known  to  all  nations,  was  at- 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  171 


tended  with  the  revelation  of  the  fact  that  this  fall  was 
in  consequence  of  man's  yielding  to  this  evil  influence, 
which  he  might  have  resisted.     It  seems  to  nic  the 
latter  is  the  true  supposition,  because  it  both  harmon- 
izes Avith  the  word  of  God  and  fully  accounts  for  all  the 
facts  to  which  history  testifies.     But  on  either  suppo- 
sition the  doctrine  must  be  true,  or  either  God  or  na- 
ture is  a  lie.     Given  the  idea  of  evil  spirits,  whether 
by  original   revelation  or  by  the   necessary  operations 
of  the  human  mind,  and  you  can  at  once  account  for 
all  the  forms  in  wdiich  it  presents  itself.     For  while 
thediuman  mind  has  no  power  absolutely  to  ci-eate  an 
idea,  since  it  must  be  either  native  to  itself  or  pre- 
sented by  the  phenomena  of  nature,  when  once  an  idea 
has  been  given,  then  it  may  exaggerate,  or  diminish,  or 
multiply,  or  combine  it  with  other  ideas.    Thus  the  idea 
of  God,  once  given,  no  matter  how,  then  the  mind  can 
change,  or  multiply,  or  clothe  it  with  human  passions, 
just  as  it  has  done.     The  unbeliever,  therefore,  has,  at 
the  outset,  to  account  for  this  universal  belief  in  evil 
spirits,  and  that,  too,  on  some  principle  as  broad  as  the 
facts  themselves.     The  Christian  recognizes  in  it  the 
truth    of  revelation,   in    the    statements  with  which 
it  opens,  the  first  leaf  of  that  divine   liistory  of  the 
origin  and  fall  of  man. 

To  the  existence  of  a  superior  order  of  intelligences, 
there  never  has  been,  and  there  never  can  be,  any  just 
objection  made.  The  creative  power  of  God  is  adequate 
to  the  peopling  of  the  universe  with  beings  as  various 
as  the  infinite  variety  of  material  objects.  Only  the 
divine  wisdom  limits  the  divine  power.  That  wisdom 
is  its  own  judge  of  what  is  fit  and  best  for  this  power 
to  accomplish.     The  reason  of  man  has  no  foothold  in 


172  SERMONS   ON    THE 

tliis  superior  sphere.  It  can  only  receive  the  indica- 
tions, hints,  the  partial  gleams  of  light,  suggesting  to 
it  the  existence  and  some  of  the  transactions  of  that 
sphere.  It  is  out  of  its  power  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
it;  as  much  so  as  it  wonld  be  to  measure  the  size  of 
the  apocalyptic  angel,  who  is  to  stand  with  one  foot  on 
the  land  and  one  on  the  sea  and  pronounce  the  knell 
of  Tiiiie.  Man  may,  as  I  have  already  hinted,  from 
the  systematic  and  gigantic  developments  of  evil  on 
earth,  infer  that  there  are  some  superior  powers  in  alli- 
ance with  the  sinful  hearts  of  men,  but  he  can  only 
know  this  from  the  direct  assurances  given  him  in  a 
divine  revelation.  These  intelligences,  whether  for 
evil  or  good,  assume  no  sensible  forms,  unless  specially 
permitted  of  God ;  they  move  among  us  noiselessly  in 
their  ministrations ;  and  though  we  may  feel  their  in- 
fluence, yet  it  breathes  itself  upon  us  so  quietly  that 
it  seems  often  to  be  only  the  product  of  our  own  cre- 
ative energy.  Here  man  can  not  judge  of  what  God 
may  or  may  not  rightly  do,  and  it  is  only  from  a  di- 
vine revelation  he  can  fully  know. 

Now,  on  this  subject  this  book,  which  we  accept  as 
the  word  of  (^rod,  is  singularly  clear  and  decisive.  It 
declares  to  us  the  existence  of  such  a  class  of  intelli- 
gences. It  describes  them  in  their  personality,  dis- 
tinguishing them  broadly  from  man  and  the  powers 
of  nature.  It  attributes  to  them  all  the  attributes  of 
personality  and  intelligence,  will,  atfections,  powers. 
It  gives  some  of  their  names,  expressive  of  their 
characters — Michael,  who  is  as  God,  a  prince  ;  Satan, 
the  adversary  ;  the  Devil,  the  accuser.  It  tells  of 
the  love  and  joyful  obedience  of  one  class;  of  their 
delight  in  God  and  holiness  ;  of  their  interest  in  the 


LIFE    OF   CHREST.  173 


progress  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  tlieir  out- 
burst of  pruisc  at  his   birth;    and  of  their  joy  over 
the    conversion    of   sinners  ;    their   worship    of   God 
and    the   Lamb,   and   their  agency  in  the   final    de- 
struction of  this  world.     It  describes  to  us  the   mal- 
ignity  of  another   class ;    their   opposition    to   man  ; 
their  evil  influence;  their  fall;  their  condemnation; 
it  tells  us  of   those  wlio  kept  not  their  first  estate, 
who  through  the  indulgence  of  pride  fell,  who  ever 
since  the  creation  of  man  have  been  engaged  in  con- 
stituting the  kingdom  of  the  world  in  opposition  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.     So  wicked  are  they  and  so 
intent  on  the  ruin  of  man,  that  the  names  of  their 
chiefs  have  become  synonyms  of  evil,  expressions  for 
intense  Avickedness  ;   to  say  that   a  thing  is  satanic 
or  devilish,  is  to  say  that  it  is  worthy  of  the  devil  and 
IS  most  intensely  wicked.     And  the  attempt  to  inter- 
pret   these    superior   intelligences    out  of   the   Bible, 
and  crowd  legions  of  fallen  and  unfallen  spirits  into 
every  human  soul,  is  if  they  were  only  good  and  bad 
thoughts  and  feelings,  is  the  merest  juggleiy  of  words. 
Such  a  process  would  exorcise  all  sin,  all  pain  out  of 
the  world.     It  would  prove  that  there  is  no  punish- 
ment  and  no  Christ  in  the  Bible ;  it  might  equally  well 
demonstrate  that  there  is  no  God  there ;  yea,  it  could 
go  so  far  as  to  show  that  the  Bible  itself  was  never 
written   at  all,  and  is  after  all  only  an  appearance. 
People  who  can  swallow  such  an  enormous  imposition 
as  this,  wouhl  worship  Simon  Magus  if  he  were  here, 
and  instal  an  Indian  conjuror  as  theirhousehold  deity. 
Oh  !  for  a  little  manhood  in  man  ;  a  little,  only  a  little 
common  sense  and  common  honesty  in  the  treatment 
of  this  holy  book!    Yes,  here  God  opens  to  us  a  vista 


174  SERMONS   ON    THE 

into  another  sphere  of  his  vast  kingdom  ;  he  gives 
us  glimpses  of  other  beings  and  powers  above  and 
around  ns,  that  the  eye  of  sense  discerns  not ;  he  re- 
veals personal  forces  of  light  and  darkness  struggling 
for  dominion  ;  antagonistic  angels  in  a  spiritual  world, 
interested  in  man,  and,  within  the  limits  set  by  his 
divine  wisdom,  influencing  him  for  good  or  evil. 

There  are,  however,  t\AO  points  on  which  the  objec- 
tors take  their  stand,  and  from  which  tliey  seek  to 
discredit  this  part  of  the  revelation  of  God.  How, 
say  they,  could  angels  fall  ?  How  could  pure  spirits, 
intelligent  and  happy  in  their  boly  sphere,  break  away 
from  the  love  of  God  and  assume  an  attitude  of  oppo- 
sition to  one  infinite  in  power?  Suppose  we  answer, 
we  can  not  tell  ;  what  does  this  prove  ?  Only  our  ig- 
norance. Does  it  disprove  the  asserted  fact  ?  Has 
any  man  risen  to  such  a  comprehension  of  these  an- 
gelic natures;  has  any  one  of  us  attained  such  an  in- 
sight into  the  process  of  thought  and  motive  in  these 
high  intelligences  as  to  warrant  him  in  affirming  that 
it  was  impossible  for  them  to  sin  ?  And  is  our  ignor- 
ance a  fit  argument  to  set  oflT  ngainst  a  fact  of  divine 
revelation?  Why,  men  of  undoubted  science  once 
afiirmed  that  if  this  earth  revolved  we  should  all  be 
thrown  off  into  space  ;  men  of  science  once  said  you 
never  could  traverse  the  ocean  with  steamships ;  and 
these  were  subjects  properly  within  the  sphere  of  hu- 
man knowledge.  But  the  earth  does  revolve,  and  our 
houses  do  not  fly  ofi"  into  space  ;  steamships  do  tra- 
verse the  ocean  and  compass  the  globe.  And  shall 
our  Ignorance  of  things  in  another  sphere,  of  which 
no  human  science  can  teach  us  anything,  stand  for  an 
instant  as  an  opposing  argument,  when  God  sees  fit  to 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  175 


part  the  clouds  above  us  and  let  us  see  a  little  of  these 
wondrous  transactions  which  have  occurred,  and  are 
now  occurring  there?  AVhen  will  men  learn  to  treat 
God  and  his  word  with  common  honesty,  and  cease  to 
take  leave  of  the  ordinary  principles  of  reasoning 
the  moment  they  enter  the  vestibule  of  his  spiritual 
temple  ? 

But  this  is  not  the  whole  of  our  answer.  There  is 
one  stubborn  fact  in  the  world ;  a  fact  which  meets  us 
everywhere;  a  fearful,  sad  fact;  it  is  sin.  Here  it  is 
in  every  heart,  speaking  from  millions  of  tongues, 
burning  in  millions  of  souls  and  cursing  their  bodies. 
How  came  it  here?  The  only  answer,  unless  you 
make  God  the  author — a  blasphemy  too  horrible  to 
think  of  for  an  instant — the  only  answer  is,  that  man 
fell ;  fell  from  the  estate  of  holiness  and  purity  in 
which  he  was  created  ;  fell  when  life  eternal  was 
offered  him  ;  fell  amidst  the  beauty  and  the  glory  of  a 
virgin  ^vorld.  And  if  man  could  fall,  w^hy  not  angels? 
If  an  incarnate  soul  may  fall,  why  may  not  a  pure 
spirit  ?  The  fact  is,  that  all  the  most  stubborn  and 
nnresolvable  difficulties  in  theology  center  at  last  in 
the  existence  of  sin  ;  and  this  is  a  fact  which  Christian 
and  infidel," men  of  all  creeds  or  of  no  creed,  have  to  ^li^^  ^ 
meet.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  revelation  merely  ;  it  is  a 
matter  of  experience  and  observation,  as  much  so  as  .  '''"^"'" 
pain,  or  disease,  or  death.  The  atheist,  in  consequence 
of  it,  denies  the  existence  of  God  ;  the  pantheist  de- 
nies his  personality,  and  makes  sin  itself  a  part  of  his 
natural  development ;  the  Christian  refers  its  permis- 
sion to  a  wisdom  which  now  he  is  too  ignorant  and 
too  nnduvclopod  and  on  too  low  a  plane  fully  to  com- 
pass.    This  fact,  however,  sweeps  away  all  the  theo- 


176  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

logical  or  philosophical  objections  to  the  fall  of  angels. 
That  fact  God's  word  affirms;  and  it  is  with  the  fact 
alone  and  not  with  the  how,  that  we  have  any  thing 
to  do. 

If  we  were  inclined  to  speculate  on  this  general  sub- 
ject, we  might  suppose  with  a  late  writer  that  the  pre- 
adamite  world,  the  world  whose  history  is  folded  up 
between  the  first  and  second  verses  of  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  but  a  part  of  which  is  written  on  the 
structure  of  our  present  earth ;  we  might  suppose,  I 
say,  that  that  world  had  a  spiritual  as  well  as  a  physi- 
cal history.  It  was  a  world  of  enormous  vegetable 
production,  of  gigantic  animals,  of  titanic  forces.  It 
may  have  been  the  locality,  the  home  of  the  angels, 
where  they  passed  their  probation  and  where  a  portion 
of  them  fell ;  there  may  have  occurred  scenes  ot  terri- 
ble antagonism  between  the  evil  and  the  good,  such 
as  Milton's  imagination  in  its  sublime  creations  has 
failed  to  conceive.  Then  wdien  they  who  stood  firm 
in  their  glorious  allegiance  were  transported  into  the 
upper  sanctuary,  the  terrible  edict  went  forth,  the  sub- 
terranean fires  upheaved,  burst  forth  ;  then  in  turn  the 
ocean  rolled  its  waters  over  continents  ;  then  chaos 
came,  and  night,  and  death,  till  tlie  creative  spirit 
again  moved  upon  it,  and  order,  and  light,  and  life  re- 
sumed their  reign,  and  man  entered  upon  his  domain 
and  began  his  probation.  And  then  and  since  these 
gigantic  spirits  of  evil  have  lived  in  the  fires  of  their 
malignity,  in  the  darkness  of  despair,  in  the  chains  of 
their  fore-doomed  perdition,  permitted  by  a  wisdom, 
one  day  to  be  vindicated  sublimely,  to  tempt  the  race 
of  humanity,  and  to  fight  another  battle  in  which  the 
incarnate  Christ  shall  bring  forth  judgment  unto  vie- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  ]  77 


tnvj.  This,  however,  k-ki-part  a  speculation,  and  wo 
have  mentioned  it  only  to  indicate  the  fact  that  in  the 
future  there  are  histories  of  the  past  for  man  to  read, 
of  which  in  this  stute  of  bein^c  we  have  oidy  here  and 
there  a  broken  fragment — yet  fragments  such  as  couh.l 
only  belong  to  a  grand  and  wondrous  system,  a  mag- 
nificent and  sublime  edifice,  and  a  history  replete  with 
interest  and  full  of  the  wisdom  and  glory  of  God. 

The  second  point  assailed  by  the  objector  is  the 
power  possessed  by  these  evil  spirits  to  influence,  in 
any  manner,  the  souls  of  men.  But  this,  too,  is  the 
objection  of  ignorance.  Who  knows  enough  on  this 
subject  to  warrant  such  an  assumption  ?  All  the  anal- 
ogous facts  are  directly  opposed  to  it.  Whoever  be- 
lieves in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  existence 
of  pure  spirits  in  another  world,  must  believe  that 
they  hold  interconrse,  and,  in  some  way  uidcnown  to 
us,  exert  over  each  other  a  reciprocal  influence.  Even 
here  there  are  facts  which  indicate  a  peculiar  power  of 
spiritual  influence  possessed  by  some  and  not  by  others. 
There  are  those  who  are  endowed  with  special  power 
to  aftect  others,  and  there  are  those  who  seem  to  be 
possessed  of  peculiar  susceptibilities  of  being  attected. 
From  some  persons  there  goes  forth  a  singular  spirit- 
ual efiluence  that,  all  unconsciously  to  themselves,  pre- 
pares others  to  be  influenced  by  their  words  and  acts. 
This  influence  may  repel  or  attract  according  to  the 
latent  sympathies  of  the  persons  brought  in  connec- 
tion. In  some  families  a  single  person  is  a  constant 
element  of  distrust,  of  disorder,  of  pain.  In  the  same 
family  another  becomes  an  element  of  harmony  and 
peace.  Some  persons  have  a  native  fascination  about 
them,  which,  according  to  their  character,  is  a  power 


178  SERMONS    ON    THE 

for  good  or  evil.  Goethe,  in  his  Faust,  represents 
Margaret  as  unable  to  pra}^  in  the  presence  of  Mephis- 
topheles.  The  doctrine  of  sjMnpathies  and  antipathies, 
which  our  modern  spiritualists  make  so  much  of,  ex- 
alting it  into  a  divine  law  of  life,  is  nothing  but  this 
power  of  spiritual  influence  possessed  by  one  in  a 
higher  degree  than  another.  It  is  not  the  mere  words 
that  are  spoken,  nor  the  thoughts  conveyed  by  these 
words,  that  can  account  for  the  effects  produced.  It 
is  something  above  and  beyond  these  sensible  things, 
proceeding  from  the  spirit  of  the  man  himself,  that 
makes  his  words  more  effective  than  when  uttered  by 
another.  The  unconscious  influence  of  men  is  a 
mighty  element  of  social  elevation  or  depression.  In 
one  presence  you  feel  depressed,  powerless,  all  the  evil 
emotions  seem  to  be  alive  and  rampant;  in  another 
you  are  exalted,  strengthened,  the  good  purposes  stand 
on  their  feet,  you  are  bold  as  a  lion  in  the  way  of 
truth.  Now  I  might  extend  tliis  discussion  indefi- 
nitely. I  could  cite  instances  of  leaders  in  church 
and  state,  of  the  great  fanatics  and  impostors  who 
have  possessed  this  power,  and  have  exerted  it  for  good 
or  evil,  so  as  to  astonish  the  world.  This,  however,  is 
the  use  I  make  of  these  known  aud  admitted  facts. 
The  whole  subject  of  spiritual  influence  is  as  yet  only 
partially  known  to  us ;  but  enough  is  known  to  make 
us  modest  and  cautious  in  our  statements  concerning 
it.  In  the  face  of  such  facts,  it  is  preposterous  for  any 
man  to  affirm  that  it  is  either  unreasonable  or  impos- 
sible for  these  fallen  angels  to  influence  us.  Igno- 
rance of  the  law  is  no  argument  against  the  fact, 
where  that  fact  is  asserted  by  competent  authority  and 
the  attending  consequences  fully  justify  it. 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  1T9 


Now,  having  looked  at  this  subject  a  little  from  a 
position  outside  the  Bil)le,  let  us  consider  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  there  discussed  and  represented.     And 
here  there  are  two  facts  which  at  once  meet  us.     The 
first  is  that  in  the  Old  Testament  the  subject  of  evd 
spirits  is  not  brougiit  forward  and  made  prominent. 
It  is  kept  mostly ^out  of  sight,  only  occasionally  al- 
luded to,  and  then  in  general  terms.     The  second  fact 
is  that  in  the  New  Testament  it  stands  forth  in  avou- 
dcrful  prominence;  Satan  and  his  associates  assume 
at  once  a  position  of  power,  and  play  a  most  impor- 
tant part  in  the  exciting  drama  of  the  Savior's  life. 
This  is  most  extraordinary.     On  the  ordinary  princi- 
ples of  historical  development  it  is  wholly  unaccount- 
able.    On  the  principles  which  Parker  and  Kewman, 
and  their  teacher,  Hegel,  announced,  it  is  impossible; 
for  thev  contend  that  in  the  early  ages  men  were  sav- 
ages, and  then  they  indulged  in  all  sorts  of  supersti- 
ti'^us  worship;  gradually  they  worked  themselves  out 
of  this  by  a  natural  law,  and  then,  as  truth  revealed 
itself  to  them,  these  superstitions  vanish.     But  here 
is  a  nation   among  which  for  ages  this  worst  form  of 
superstition,  according  to  these  writers,  was  almost 
unknown,  kept  down,  and  rarely  alluded  to  by  then- 
religious  teachers.     But  when  they  had  become  won- 
derfully advanced  in  refinement  and  knowledge— in 
an  age  when  Grecian  and  Roman  civilization,  carry- 
ing with  it  the  finest  science  and  literature  of  all  time, 
had  spread  over  the  world— then  all  at  once  this  super- 
stitious l)elief  in  evil  spirits  assumed  prodigious  pro- 
portions ;  and  even  Jesus  Christ,  admitted  to  be  the 
greatest  teacher  the  world  ever  saw,  gave  it  his  ex- 
press sanction.     Now,  I  afiirm  that  this  fact  of  history 


180  SEEMONS   OX    THE 

condemns  tlie  theories  of  these  men  as  utterly  false- 
They  are  just  as  untrue  as  the  old  Ptolemaic  system 
of  astronomy  has  heen  shown  to  be  by  modern  sci- 
ence. 

How,  then,  it  is  asked,  do  you  account  for  it?  I  an- 
swer, on  the  clearest  principles  contained  in  this  reve- 
lation itself.  The  grand  object  designed  in  setting 
apart  the  Jewish  nation  was  to  prepare  the  waj'  for 
the  coming  of  Messiah.  To  effect  this,  true  religion, 
the  true  knowledge  and  worship  of  God,  must  be  pre- 
served among  them.  Their  chief  danger  w^as  on  the 
side  of  idolatry.  They  w^ere  surrounded  by  idolatrous 
nations — nations  who  w^orshiped  all  sorts  of  gods,  and 
the  devil  among  them;  worshiped  in  great  splendor, 
surrounding  their  rites  with  all  the  fascinations  of 
revelry  and  pomp  and  everything  that  could  appeal 
to  the  lusts  of  men.  The  whole  Mosaic  system  is  ar- 
raigned in  direct  antagonism  to  this  very  tendency. 
And,  on  this  very  principle,  the  doctrine  of  the  fallen 
angels  is  kept  in  the  background,  lest  it  should  fur- 
nish a  point  of  attraction  and  a  motive  to  idolatry. 
The  form  which  Satan  was  allowed  to  assume  in  the 
temptation  of  our  first  parents  is  cursed  and  made 
loathsome;  and  had  this  not  been  done,  the  worship 
of  the  devil  under  this  form  would  have  been  irresist- 
ible. You  see  this  tendency  illustrated  in  another 
case.  The  brazen  serpent  which  Moses  reared  in  the 
wilderness,  to  whicii  the  bitten  Israelites  might  look, 
became  in  the  time  of  Ilezckiah  an  object  of  wor- 
ship, and  was  on  that  account  destroyed.  Thus  God 
guarded  his  chosen  people  on  every  side,  and  even 
held  back  the  fuller  knowledge  of  the  fallen  angels 
until  he  should  come  who  was  to  destrov  the  works 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  181 


of  the  devil.  Then  there  was  an  expansion  both  of 
the  [lower  and  manifestation  of  this  great  adversary. 
Then  Jesns  met  and  vanquished  him  for  all  who  trust 
in  him.  The  fact  that  Jesus  was  to  triumph  over  all 
the  powers  of  darkness,  that  he  was  to  lead  captivity 
cai)tive,  that  he  was  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head,  that 
he  was  to  exalt  humanity  over  the  power  that  had 
been  accessory  to  its  degradation,  gives  us  the  clue  to 
the  divine  permission,  in  consequence  of  which  these 
evil  spirits  concentrated  their  malign  influence  upon 
the  bodies  and  the  souls  of  liundreds  and  thousands 
in  that  land  and  at  that  time.  The  explanation  of 
the  demoniacal  influence  under  which  so  many  then 
suffered  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  true  Messiahship 
of  Christ  must  be  manifest  b}'  the  power  which  he 
exercised  over  these  malignant  enemies  of  man.  This 
subject,  however,  will  come  under  distinct  review 
when  we  reach  that  period  in  this  life  of  Jesus  where 
he  met  and  cast  out  these  fallen  spirits. 

Now  I  turn  to  two  other  points  with  which  we  are 
more  immediately  concerned  in  tliis  stage  of  his  life. 
First,  I  wish  here  to  meet  the  assumption  that  Jesus 
and  his  apostles,  in  speaking  of  these  evil  spirits,  only 
accommodated  themselves  to  the  prevailing  false  no- 
tions of  the  time.  This  is  a  most  extraordinary  as- 
sumption. Jesus  Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world,  and 
he  sanctions  a  falsehood — nay,  presents  it  in  so  many 
ways,  and  that  too  without  tlie  least  necessity,  as  if  it 
were  true — that  the  great  mass  of  his  followers  have 
ever  since  believed  it.  Jesus  Christ  0{)posed  the  popu- 
lar notions  of  Pharisees  and  Sadducees;  he  broke 
down  ruthlessly  and  forever  all  their  systems  of  faith  ; 
he  spared  neither  great  nor  small;  he  spake  the  truth 


182  SEEMONS   O^   THE 

which  emancipates  the  world  from  the  slavery  of  error 
and  sin  ;  he  flashed  the  light  in  upon  the  secret  hearts 
of  men;  he  established  the  principles  which  exalt  hu- 
manity ;  he  unveiled  the  powers  of  life  and  death,  ever 
antagonistic,  that  are  working  among  men  ;  he  set 
forth  the  truth  all  men  are  to  receive,  he  blasted  the 
error  all  men  are  to  reject.  He  moved  resolutely  for- 
ward amidst  all  the  powers  of  hell  in  his  work  of 
mercy,  until  he  was  nailed  to  the  cross.  The  word 
he  spake,  the  work  he  did,  shattered  the  temples  of 
idolatry,  scattered  the  superstition  that  darkened  over 
the  people,  brought  millions  out  of  darkness  into  light, 
and  opened  the  pathway  for  humanity  to  enter  the 
gates  of  heaven.  Now  point  me,  if  you  can,  to 
an  instance  in  which  Jesus  sanctioned  by  word  or 
act  a  superstition  or  a  falsity  ;  show  me  an  ele- 
ment in  all  his  teachings  that  is  not  to-day  one  of 
the  pure  and  lit  stones  in  the  temple  of  Christianity. 
The  supposition  that  he  allowed  himself  to  speak,  and 
his  disciples  to  write,  that  which  he  knew  to  be  a 
mere  superstition,  is  monstrous.  It  belies  his  whole 
character;  it  vitiates  his  life.  Better  say  he  was  mis- 
taken ;  better  assume  that  you  are  his  superior  in 
knowledge  ;  better,  in  your  self-conceit,  claim  to  know 
more  than  he  'did  about  the  powers  of  the  spiritual 
world  ;  for,  in  so  doing,  while  you  sacrilice  his  divine 
intelligence,  you  at  least  save  his  honesty  and  sincerity. 
We  stand  on  higher  ground  ;  we  take  him  to  be  our 
divine  teacher  respecting  this  unseen  world  ;  we  fol- 
low him  with  perfect  confidence  into  the  realm  of  the 
unseen  and  spiritual ;  we  hail  the  light  he  flashes  on  the 
dark  profound  of  this  untraversed  and  unfathomed 
ocean  ;  we  accept  him  as  the  expounder  of  mysteries 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  183 

concealed  since  the  foundation  of  the  Avorld  ;  we  see 
in  his  doctrine  of  the  fallen  angels  the  key  to  the  sad 
history  of  our  race,  and  in  his  victory  over  these  fallen 
spirits  the  pledge  and  assurance  of  our  victory  over 
Satan,  sin,  and  death. 

I  shall  reserve  a  full  discussion  of  the  power  of  the 
Devil  until  we  take  up  the  suhject  of  the  demoniacs; 
only  remarking  here,  that  he  possessed  the  power  of 
temptation;  that  he  could  exert  a  seductive  iniiuence  ; 
that  he  could  so  address  the  natural  desires  of  men, 
and  so  disguise  the  evil,  as  to  appeal  powerfully  to  the 
soul  in  favor  of  self-indulgence.  He  could  force  no 
man's  will ;  but  he  liad  access  to  all  the  motives  which 
craft  and  cunning  and  devilish  malice  could  suggest,  to 
carry  his  points.  Nor  will  I  speculate  on  the  question 
whether  he  revealed  his  personality  to  Christ  in  visible 
form,  or  whether  he  presented  himself  to  the  Savior 
in  that  spiritual  presence  to  which  the  soul  of  Jesus 
would  be  acutely  sensitive.  For  the  record  informs 
us  of  none  of  these  things  ;  it  decides  nothing  in  re- 
spect to  these  points;  it  only  gives  us  the  fact  of  his 
presence  with  Jesus,  and  his  ettbrts  to  tempt  him  into 
sin. 

This  brings  us,  however,  to  a  point  of  fundamental 
importance.  The  temptation  of  Jesus  must  come  from 
an  external  agency.  AVe,  in  our  corruption,  experi- 
ence the  spontaneous  rise  of  evil  passions.  The  un- 
derlying strength  of  our  sellishness  breaks  forth  of 
itself  in  exaggerated  desires  which  we  have  not  the 
will  to  control.  The  heart,  already  evil,  is  disposed 
to  yield  to  temptation  when  it  comes,  and  often  to 
create  it.  But  in  Christ  there  was  ever  the  calm 
resting  of  his  soul  on  God  ;  the  most  complete  sub- 


184:  SERMONS   ON    THE 

jection  of  bis  will  to  that  of  the  Father.  In  him 
there  was  no  spontaneous  combustion  of  desire,  no 
tumults  or  fierce  tempests  of  passion.  Dwelling  ever 
in  the  bosom  of  God,  this  human  soul,  in  harmony  with 
itself,  holding  all  its  powers  under  strict  control,  in- 
dulged not  of  itself  the  conceptions  or  the  desires  of 
evil.  The  power  that  could  tempt  must  be  wholly 
from  without.  His  temptation  was  no  self-created 
imagination,  no  self-produced  visions  of  personal  am- 
bition or  selfish  gratification.  It  mut«t  be  an  external 
agent  that  must  make  the  appeal  and  present  the 
motives  to  his  sensitive  spirit.  And  who  so  fit  an 
agent,  or  so  mighty  to  assail  his  virtue,  as  the  prince- 
leader  of  the  fallen  angels  ?  Who  like  him  in  craft, 
in  cunning,  in  the  power  of  approaching  and  influenc- 
ing the  soul  ?  Who  like  him,  of  all  created  beings, 
had  so  thoroughly  sounded  the  depths  of  and  com- 
passed the  avenues  to  the  heart  of  man?  Who  like 
him  knew  so  well  how  to  take  advantage  of  the  most 
favorable  conditions  of  both  body  and  spirit?  Who 
so  successful  as  him  who  had  seduced  our  first  parents 
— who  through  four  thousand  years  had  plied  his  arts 
and  directed  his  emissaries  in  the  work  of  debauching 
humanity  and  building  up  his  kingdoms  on  the  ruins 
of  the  fall?  The  prince  of  darkness  sufli^ers  no  sub- 
ordinate agent  to  undertake  this  work.  Face  to  face 
he  meets  the  Son  of  God.  Summoning  all  his  art  and 
power  of  influence  over  spirit,  he  enters  upon  the  con- 
flict. Jesus  feels  the  presence  ;  knows  it  to  be  the  pre- 
sence of  a  superior  intelligence.  Cunningly,  with  con- 
summate yet  devilish  wisdom,  the  tempter  conducts  his 
approaches,  but  conceals  his  end.  At  every  step  the 
appeal  is  met.    The  shadow  of  a  dark  thought  is  not 


LIFE    OF    CPIRIST.  185 

suffered  to  rest  in  the  Savior's  heart.  Quick  as  the 
tliunder  responds  to  the  lightning's  flash,  he  resists,  he 
foils,  he  triumphs  over  the  tempter.  Then  Satan,  baf- 
fled, defeated  in  his  damned  work,  slinks  awa}^ ;  know- 
ing: now  that  he  is  to  be  dethroned  and  cursed  forever 
In  this  victory  of  Christ  is  contained  the  assurance 
of  our  victory.  The  development  of  our  humanity'- 
advances  through  all  kinds  of  trials,  of  temptations, 
of  scenes  joyful  and  sorrowful.  This  is  a  divine  or- 
dinance which  all  the  art  and  will  of  man  can  not  re- 
verse. Character  is  to  be  formed,  results  as  lasting  as 
eternity  are  to  be  reached  along  this  patli.  No  man 
can  escape  from  this  discipline  of  temptation  and  trial. 
No  one  can  nullify  an  ordinance  established  by  God 
himself.  Whether  he  wishes  it  or  no,  pass  through  it 
he  must.  Jesus  in  his  purity  passed  through  it  without 
the  shadow  of  a  stain.  We,  in  our  weakness  and  cor- 
ruption, need  divine  strength  to  make  it  a  discipline  of 
life,  a  means  of  developing  our  characters  in  love  and 
faith,  in  goodness,  purity,  and  truth.  Christ  is  our 
strength.  Grasping  his  hand,  looking  to  him  in  prayer, 
trusting  to  him  as  a  present  Redeemer,  temptation 
and  the  tempter  are  already  vanquished.  Oh  !  never 
does  a  soul  in  conscious  weakness,  in  child-like  confi- 
dence, seek  to  hide  under  the  shadow  of  his  wing, 
commit  itself  fully  to  his  protection,  but  power  from 
on  high  comes  down  into  it ;  swift-winged  ministers  of 
love  from  his  side  descend  to  guard  us,  and  in  the 
agony  of  our  deepest  sorrow  save  us  from  murmuring 
and  whisper  words  of  consolation  and  hope.  Oh! 
never  does  a  young  soul  choose  Christ  for  his  leader, 
and  resolve  to  obey  his  sacred  law  and  so  stand  up 
16 


186  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

amidst  the  forces  of  evil  that  assail  him,  confident  in 
his  protection,  but  he  is  lifted  on  eagle  wings  above 
the  pollutions  of  earth,  and  this  wicked  one  touches 
him  not,  and  his  pestiferous  breath  enters  not  within 
the  charmed  circle  within  which  Jesus  is  enthroned. 
But  let  him  seek  to  stand  in  his  own  strength  ;  let  him 
think  that  Christ  and  his  victory  has  no  vital  relation 
to  his  deliverance  ;  let  him  summon  only  his  own  man- 
hood, already  tending  to  sin,  to  the  work,  and  the  wily 
adversary  is  sure  of  his  victim ;  he  knows  that  none 
but  Christ  can  vanquish  him,  and  this  poor  soul  shall 
yet  become  his  subject,  his  slave  forever. 


LIFE    OF    CHKIST.  187 


XI. 


THE    TEMPTATION    (nO.  4). 

^^  And  in  those  days  he  did  eat  nothing:  and  when  they 
were  ended,  he  afterward  hungered.  And  the  devil  said 
unto  him,  '  If  thou  he  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone 
that  it  be  made  bread.'  And  Jesus  answered  him,  saying, 
It  is  written,  '  Tha,t  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but 
by  every  loord  of  God'  " — Luke  iv :  2,  3,  4. 

We  come  now  to  the  struggle.  The  decisive  hour 
has  come,  which  gave  to  this  sojourn  in  the  wikleruess 
a  vital  interest  for  humanity.  It  is  to  be  demonstrated 
that  this  sinless  soul  will  maintain  its  stainless  integ- 
rity amidst  the  most  subtle  forces  of  evil.  For  it  is 
one  thing  to  be  holy  in  one  class  of  circumstances,  and 
quite  another  to  continue  holy  in  all  circumstances. 
Satan  was  sinless  for  a  time ;  but  he  fell.  Adam 
walked  for  a  time  in  obedience,  but  then  he  yielded  to 
temptation.  And  now,  at  the  opening  of  his  public 
ministry,  the  circumstances  in  which  Jesus  had  lived 
in  perfect  communion  with  God  were  entirely  changed. 
The  hour  of  a  special  trial  had  come.  On  the  results 
of  this  trial  hung  suspended  the  redemption  of  the 
world.  Jesus,  victorious,  now  wins  the  earnest  of  a 
complete  and  final  victory.  Darker  hours  of  suft'ering 
he  may  see ;  but  never  more  a  power  of  temptation 
more  subtle  and  eitective  than  this. 

Let  us  look  first  at  his  situation.     What  was  his  ex- 


188  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

perience  during  the  forty  days  preceding  is  not  on 
record.  But  there  is  nothing  in  this  record  to  forbid 
the  supposition  that  they  were  of  the  holiest  and  most 
blissful  character.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  during 
this  time  he  dwelt  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  Father, 
and  was  conscious  of  the  fullness  of  God.  This  reve- 
lation of  the  divine  nature  to  his  consciousness  exalted 
and  intensitied  all  his  powers  ;  this  made  him  insensi- 
ble to  loneliness  and  hunger;  this  opened  to  him  the 
height  and  depth,  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  won- 
derful work  he  was  to  perform  for  humanity. 

But  now  these  hours  are  passed.  There  is  a  with- 
drawal of  this  supernal  brightness.  It  is  not  darkness 
that  succeeds ;  it  is  the  pale  moon-light  after  the  sun 
has  gone.  He  is  amidst  the  dim  light  and  mocking 
shadows  in  which  mau  lives.  For  now,  as  man,  he  is 
to  encounter  temptation  ;  in  his  naked  humanity  he 
must  meet  the  tempter.  To  him,  conscious  of  the  full- 
iXuu  Jb o-<i. I16SS  of  God,  temptation  is  impossible;  but  to  him,  in 
^,,^^^^j^  conscious  dependence  and  weakness  as  human,  it  is 
U£.*^nu>V  possible  ;  and  only  thus  can  it  be  a  real  trial,  and  the 
(Tvco/vv  result  a  real  victory.  He  feels  now  his  loneliness  ;  he 
realizes  his  manhood;  his  state  as  a  creature.  How 
often,  when  dear  friends  leave  us,  in  whose  presence 
we  have  felt  strong  and  bright  as  angels,  is  there,  in 
spite  of  the  blessed  memories  of  that  intercourse,  a 
vacancy  of  the  heart,  a  sense  of  loneliness,  of  weak- 
ness, of  almost  dread  to  meet  the  inevitable  trials  be- 
fore us  and  drink  the  cup  of  bitterness  that  is  presented 
to  our  lips.  Jesus  is  constituted  like  us  ;  Jesus,  in  his 
humanity,  experiences  these  same  exaltations  and  de- 
pressions, these  reactions  after  the  withdrawal  of  the 
divine   manifestations    and   blissful    consciousness    of 


-^-^-Q^ 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  189 

union  with  tlie  divine  in  liis  human  nature;  with  this 
diiiereuce,  that  in  him  there  is  no  stain  of  corruption, 
and  these  inward  trials  are  taken  upon  him  in  order 
that  he  ma}'  be  for  us  a  s^-mpathizing  High  Priest  and 
Savior.  This  is  the  key  that  unlocks  the  mystery  of 
all  the  sorrow  of  his  holy  soul.  And,  judging  of  him 
from  this  stand-point,  and  in  harmony  with  all  the 
analogies  of  his  life,  it  is  doing  no  violence  to  the 
scene  before  us,  it  is  but  carrying  out  the  most  nat- 
ural train  of  thought  suggested  b}^  it,  to  suppose  that 
after  the  ecstatic  consciousness  of  the  divine  fullness 
came  the  sense  of  loneliness,  of  dependence,  of  weak- 
ness, a  vision  of  tlie  suffering  he  is  to  endure,  and  the 
fearful  trial  through  which  his  soul  must  pass  in  ef- 
fecting our  redemption.  In  his  simple,  naked  hu- 
manity he  meets  the  tempter. 

Then,  with  this  withdrawal  of  the  divine  con- 
sciousness, another  most  significant  fact  meets  us. 
For  forty  days  he  has  eaten  nothing  ;  sustained  by  this 
divine  power  within  him,  he  cares  not  for  food.  But 
now^  that  state  of  exaltation  and  spiritual  affluence  is 
past.  The  body,  long  deprived  of  its  accustomed 
nourishment,  asserts  its  claims.  They  are  not  to  be 
trifled  with.  As  a  stream  dammed  up  and  long  gather- 
ing head,  when  it  breaks  away,  how  impetuously  it 
rushes  —  with  what  violence  it  moves  onward!  So 
these  appetites  of  the  body,  long  held  back,  break 
forth  Avith  fearful  power.  They  cry,  they  clamor  for 
indulgence.  There  is  a  deep  meaning  in  those  words  : 
"He  was  an  hungered."  Hunger  drives  men  mad! 
Hunger  has  slain  its  dearest  friend,  to  feed  upon  his 
body!  Hunger  has  stifled  natural  affection,  and  made 
the  mother  forget  her  offspring,  and  prey  upon  her 


190  SERMONS   ON   THE 

babe!  Who  that  has  known  its  extremit}',  or  Avho 
that  lias  seen  it,  as  it  met  their  cjes  when  onr  poor, 
noble  boys  were  landed  at  Annapolis  from  the  prisons 
of  Andersonville  and  Salisbury,  looking  out  of  their 
hollow  eyes  and  emaciated  forms,  will  fail  to  have  im- 
pressed upon  him  a  vivid,  an  eternal  sense  of  its  ap- 
palling, fearful  significance?  But  Jesus  was  human 
like  these  men.  Jesus  felt  these  natural  desires  cry- 
ing for  bread ;  his  body,  in  its  weakness,  craved  the 
same  sustenance,  clamored  for  it,  imperiously  de- 
manded it. 

Then  the  tempter  came.  He  chose  the  hour  of  lone- 
liness, of  weakness,  of  hunger,  for  his  assault.  Doubt- 
less he  had  waited  and  watched  for  his  opportunity  all 
through  this  forty  days'  sojourn  in  the  wilderness ; 
but  while  the  divine  presence  filled  and  shone  out  of 
the  soul  of  Jesus,  he  dared  not  approach  him.  IsTow, 
however,  he  is  quick  to  perceive  that  his  time  has 
come.  ISTow,  while  the  soul  embraces  itself  after  these 
days  of  intense  excitement,  and  the  body  is  weak 
through  fasting,  and  the  gates  through  which  tempta- 
tion may  enter  the  citadel  are  open,  the  crafty  adver- 
sary seizes  the  opportunity,  and,  like  a  skillful  general, 
at  once  approaches  to  the  assault.  Whether  he  assumed 
a  visible  form,  or  made  himself  known  only  in  his 
spiritual  personality,  to  the  soul  of  Jesus,  sensitive  to 
and  quick  to  feel  such  influences,  is- not  of  the  smallest 
consequence.  The  great  deceiver  comes  not  in  his 
true  character,  as  the  arch-adversary ;  he  blow^s  no 
trumpet;  he  announces  not  his  evil  purpose.  It  is  as 
an  angel  of  light;  as  one  invested  by  God  with  poAver 
and  authority;  as  a  minister  of  kindness,  in  sympa- 
thy w^ith  the  weak  and  depressed  condition  of  Jesus. 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  191 

Tl)is  is  ever  the  master  stroke  of  his  polic}' ;  as  a 
friend  pleading  for  liberty  ;  for  safe  and  natnral  in- 
dulgence; for  the  seeming  interests  of  body  and  soul. 
So  came  lie  to  our  iirst  parents.  The  tree  is  fair; 
the  fruit  is  good  to  eat;  ye  shall  be  as  God  himself. 
So  came  he  to  Jesus,  as  an  angel  of  strength  and 
blessing. 

Let  us  attend  now  more  particularly  to  the  assault. 

Here  you  will  notice  two  points  :  First,  the  basis 
of  the  temptation,  the  jjoint  of  departure,  is  the 
appetite  for  food.  The  exciting  cause,  of  which  the 
tempter  avails  himself,  is  hunger.  This  desire  is  nat- 
nral ;  it  is  part  of  the  original  and  innocent  constitu- 
tion of  the  body.  These  desires  arise  in  the  healthy 
operation  of  our  physical  system.  They  are  given  to 
be  gratified.  The  proper  indulgence  of  them  is  a 
source  of  daily  pleasure.  God's  goodness  is  seen  in 
them.  He  never  meant  that  man  should  eat  his  food 
with  a  wry  face,  as  if  it  were  medicine;  but  with  a  glad 
and  thankful  heart,  as  an  evidence  of  the  divine  wis- 
dom and  goodness.  Jesus  had  a  body  just  like  ours, 
and  appetites  like  ours.  He  could  feel  the  pangs  of 
hunger,  and  he  could  enjoy  the  pleasure  which  a 
healthy  appetite  properly  gratified  gives  to  a  health}^ 
body.  In  all  this  he  was  as  sinless  as  the  angels  them- 
selves. Here,  then,  on  the  gratification  of  this  natural 
and  innocent  appetite,  asking  for  food,  Satan  plants 
himself.  Why  should  not  the  Savior  take  measures 
at  once  to  appease  his  hunger? 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  second  point — the  real 
point  of  the  temptation.  For  it  is  not  the  hunger  or 
the  appeasing  of  it  that  is  in  itself  sinful  or  holy.  The 
virtue  or  the  evil  is  in  the  means,  the  time,  the  way. 


192  SERMONS   ON    THE 

the  spirit  in  which  it  is  sought  to  gratify  the  appetite. 
The  point  of  the  temptation  is  in  the  way  in  which 
Satan  attempts  to  induce  Jesns  to  satisfy  his  hunger  : 
"  If  tliou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  this  stone 
be  made  bread."  Satan's  knowledge  is  more  or  less 
limited;  it  is  not  broad  and  comprehensive;  it  is  art- 
ful and  cunning  ;  but  he  would  be  ignorant  indeed  if 
he  had  not  made  himself  familiar  with  the  extraordi- 
nary history  of  Jesus.  His  devilish  instincts  taught 
him  that  here  was  a  holy  soul  over  which  as  yet  he 
had  no  power.  The  scene  at  the  baptism  and  the  forty 
days  in  the  wilderness  had  informed  him  of  Christ's 
remarkable  character  as  the  Son  of  God.  His  natural 
forecast  w^ould  apprise  him  that  in  some  way  this 
being  might  wrest  from  him  his  kingdom  and  thrust 
him  down  to  the  lowest  hell.  And  so,  in  his  efforts 
to  win  him  over  to  his  side,  he  uses  the  very  title 
given  Christ  by  the  Holy  Ghost  at  the  baptism,  ''  H 
thou  be  the  Son  of  God."  jSTow,  you  may  take  this  in 
one  of  two  ways — either,  it  may  be  an  assertion.  Since 
thou  art,  or  assuming  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  and  then 
it  is  a  flattering  recognition  of  the  true  character  of 
Christ;  or,  If  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  if  thou  claim 
to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  then  it  is  a  sort  of  half 
challenge  to  him  to  prove  himself  such.  I  prefer,  in 
view  of  the  special  character  of  this  temptation,  to 
take  it  in  the  first  sense  ;  the  other  harmonizes  least, 
as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  with  the  second  temptation. 
Taking  it,  then,  in  that  sense,  it  may  be  paraphrased 
thus:  Since  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  all  power  is 
given  to  thee.  Why,  then,  should  you  suffer  the  pangs 
of  hunger?  You  have  but  to  speak  and  this  stone 
will  become  bread.    It  is  right  for  you  to  indulge  your 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  193 

appetite  ;  there  is  no  sin  in  eating.  Food  is  necessary 
to  sustain  the  bod}'.  Why  should  you,  the  Son  of 
God,  sutter  thus,  when  you  are  abundantly  able  to 
avoid  it  ?  Only  command,  and  this  desert  will  be  full 
of  bread. 

Now,  all  this  seems  exceedingly  plausible.  What 
harm  can  result  from  such  an  indulgence  here  in  the 
wilderness?  Why  may  not  Jesus  relieve  himself  from 
suffering  by  the  immediate  exercise  of  that  power 
which  is  vested  in  him?  What  sin  can  there  be  in 
creating  and  eating  the'  food  needful  for  the  suste- 
nance of  his  body  ?  But  if  we  look  at  this  point 
more  carefully,  we  shall  see  that  this  plausibility  is  all 
superficial,  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  deception,  that  it 
involves  enormous  error  and  guilt,  that  underneath 
this  appeal  of  Satan  are  fundamental  principles  of 
right  action  which  he  seeks  to  nullify  and  destroy. 
Power  in  human  hands  is  always  a  dangerous  posses- 
sion. Power  of  wealth,  power  of  official  station,  and 
that  grander  power  of  a  great  intellect,  all  exaggerate 
the  liabilities  to  evil  and  enhance  the  seductive  forces  of 
the  world.  This  possession  lifts  a  man  above  the  ordi- 
nary limitations  which  have  fenced  him  round  against 
the  assault  of  self-indulgence.  With  the  ability  to  in- 
dulge them  freely,  the  inferior  propensities  arc  quick- 
ened into  new  life,  the  passions  clamor  for  larger 
scope  and  field,  the  power  of  self-gratification  infuses 
itself  into  the  very  excitements  which  clamor  for  it. 
Or  if  power  does  not  work  in  this  direction,  it  reacts 
on  the  soul  itself;  it  stimulates  the  tendenc}''  to  inde- 
pendence and  self-exaltation  ;  it  makes  man  his  own 
God ;  it  impels  him  to  exalt  his  authority,  to  magnify 
17 


194  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

his  importance,  to  depress  and  scorn  or  envy  others, 
to  perpetnate  and  increase  itself,  and  make  himself 
the  center  of  all  his  aims  and  efforts. 

Hence  it  is  that  power  is  full  of  danger.  Hence 
virtue  is  so  rare  a  thing  in  a  monarch,  true  patriotism 
in  an  official,  sterling  piety  in  connection  with  great 
possessions  or  the  consciousness  of  high  intellectual 
power.  Hence,  too,  the  checks  and  limitations  which 
men  in  power  need  to  curh  their  ambition,  and  which 
we  all  need  to  remind  us  that  we  are  not  gods  but 
creatures,  and  that  responsibility  keeps  pace  with 
power  and  stands  sentinel  over  it,  and  demands  of  it 
a  just  use,  and  will  exact  from  it  a  final  and  strict  ac- 
count. The  assault  of  Satan,  therefore,  is  upon  a  vital 
point.  He  struck  at  the  very  heart  of  religion ;  for 
power  is  connected  in  some  form  with  all  these  temp- 
tations, and  power  in  some  form  is  associated  with  all 
the  indulgences  of  sin  in  this  world.  Men  are  not 
ambitious  to  build  railroads  to  the  moon  ;  a  hind  will 
not  lust  after  a  queen  ;  an  idiot  will  not  seek  to  wield 
the  scepter  of  Milton ;  no  man  thirsts  for  the  meter 
of  Homer's  gods.  It  is  the  power  of  self-indulgence 
that  creates  the  temptation  or  enhances  vastly  its 
force.  Jesus  was  w^eak  in  bod}^ :  Jesus  was  suflering 
the  pains  of  hunger;  Jesus  has  all  power  committed 
to  him,  and  can  command  the  very  stones  to  minister 
to  his  wants.  Here  are  all  the  elements  of  a  real 
and  tremendous  temptation — i.  e.,  the  natural  appe- 
tite, the  power  to  gratify  it,  and  a  seeming  friend 
ui'ging  him  to  use  his  power  for  this  purpose.  Such 
'  is  the  assault. 

3.  Now  let  us  consider  the  resistance.  Bear  in  mind 
what  I  have  already  stated,  that  Jesus  is  here  left  to 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  195 

the  naked  working  of  his  own  pure  liiimaiiity ;  that 
the  knowledge  of  the  tempter's  true  cliaractcr  is  not 
given,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  Satan  comes  to  him 
as  aft  exalted  friend  in  sympathy  with  his  trials  and 
seeking  to  minister  to  his  wants.  Then  consider  these 
points  in  the  resistance  to  the  temptation.  (1.)  It  is 
instantaneous.  There  is  no  hesitation,  no  parleying. 
Heat  once  discerns  the  evil  principle  involved;  in- 
stantly he  repels ;  he  flashes  upon  it  his  condemna- 
tion. Hunger  he  may,  but  sin  never  !  Sutter  he  may, 
but  the  shadow  of  guilt  must  not  rest  on  him  for  an 
instant.  (2.)  But  he  not  only  repels  the  temptation 
in  his  heart;  he  expresses  the  ground  of  his  rejection 
in  words.  It  is  written — written  in  that  Old  Testa- 
ment some  men  seek  to  put  away  as  a  tiling  of  the 
past — divinely  written  by  God's  inspiration  in  Deuter- 
onomy viii,  3:  "Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone, 
but  by  every  word  of  God."  Man  lias  a  higher  life 
than  this  of  the  body.  It  is  not  in  the  indulgence  of 
his  appetites  as  he  may  choose  consists  his  true  life. 
The  soul  is  his  nobler  part,  his  chief  possession,  his 
characteristic  humanity.  This  lives  only  in  harmony 
with  God's  word,  expressing  the  divine  will ;  this  lives 
only  as  it  recognizes  and  obeys  the  divine  authority. 
To  disobey  is  to  die  ;  sin  is  self-destruction.  To  love, 
to  reverence,  to  serve  the  heavenly  Father ;  to  listen 
to  His  voice,  to  yield  itself  wholly  to  His  control,  to 
follow  His  word  in  sutfering  as  well  as  in  joy,  in  hun- 
ger and  satiety,  this  is  man's  true  life,  this  is  eternal 
life  !  "You  say  I  am  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  power 
is  given  me  to  create  sustenance  for  my  body  out  of 
these  stones.  As  Son  of  God  I  come  to  redeem  and 
save  men  from  sin  and  death.     As  son  of  man  I  come 


196  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

to  suffer  and  be  tried  in  their  stead.  The  power  given 
to  me  as  Son  of  God  I  am  to  use  only  in  the  advance- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  was  not  to  relieve 
my  bodily  wants,  it  was  not  to  be  appropriated  to  my 
personal  ease  and  aggrandizement,  that  I  receive  it. 
It  was  to  vindicate  my  mission  as  the  Savior  of  men, 
to  establish  the  authority  I  represent,  to  prepare  the 
way  for  and  authenticate  the  words  I  utter,  that  it  is 
given  me  to  work  the  works  of  God.  This  body  is  to 
sufl'er;  my  life  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent 
me."  This  is  the  sublime  answer  Jesus  gives  to  the 
tempter.  His  whole  life,  from  this  hour  to  that  in 
which  he  cried,  "It  is  finished,"  embodies,  illustrates, 
echoes,  sounds  it  forth  and  down  the  generations  of 
men.  We  hear  it  here  to-night,  as  full  and  clear 
and  convincing  and  vital  as  when  uttered  in  that 
wilderness  two  thousand  years  ago.  It  is  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  religion  for  man.  It  is  the 
assertion  (1)  of  the  dignity,  the  value  of  the  soul,  its 
superiority  to  the  body,  and  to  the  accidents  of  time 
and  sense.  It  has  its  own  life,  even  though  the  body 
suffer  and  die.  It  is  the  assertion  (2)  of  its  direct 
responsibility  to  God.  It  holds  to  him  the  relation  of 
subject.  It  can  never  lay  aside  this  responsibility  for 
its  acts.  It  is  bound  to  this  by  a  chain  stronger  than 
fate.  It  is  not  made  independent.  Every  attempt  to 
put  self  on  the  throne  is  suicidal.  God  is  the  only 
sovereign.  Resist  that  truth;  fight  against  it ;  sum- 
mon all  your  powers  against  it ;  you  have  not  nullified 
it,  you  have  not  weakened  it,  your  chain  is  unbroken  ; 
infinite  power  holds  you  in  its  grasp ;  infinite  authority 
asserts  its  claims  to  your  obedience.  This  responsi- 
bility is  on  you  because  you  are  not  mere  body,  but 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST  197 

soul ;  not  a  brute,  but  a  man  ;  not  a  god,  but  a  poor 
finite  creature,  living  and  moving  in  God  alone.  (3) 
It  asserts  that  God's  word,  received,  loved,  obeyed,  is 
the 'soul's  true  life.  It  is  not  bread  and  meat  and 
drink  ;  it  is  not  self-indulgence  of  those  bodily  appe- 
tites which  the  brutes  share  in  common  with  you,  that 
makes  your  real  life.  It  is  love,  it  is  faith,  it  is  obedi- 
ence, it  is  communion  with  God  ;  this  is  the  life  the 
soul  is  to  enjoy ;  this  is  the  life  that  trium[)hs  over 
temptation,  that  sings  in  the  hour  of  pain,  that  feels 
angelic  joy  and  hears  angelic  symphonies  in  the  hour 
of  death.  Thus  Jesus  puts  aside  the  temptation  to 
sensual  indulgence.  Food  was  desirable,  but  truth  and 
obedience  were  infinitely  more  desirable.  Power  was  in 
his  hands,  but  it  was  not  given  for  personal  indulgence. 
This  high  trust,  the  most  dangerous  in  the  world,  the 
most  liable  to  be  abused,  he  held  sacred  for  its  high  ob- 
jects. Never  through  all  his  life,  amidst  his  darkest 
hours,  did  he  work  a  miracle  to  relieve  himself  from  one 
pain  or  gratify  one  earthly  passion,  lie  fed  thousands, 
but  never  a  loaf  created  he  for  himself.  He  saved 
thousands,  but  never  a  word  spake  he  and  never  an 
exertion  of  divine  power  to  save  himself  did  he  put 
forth.  Led  into  this  wilderness  for  a  great  purpose, 
he  calml}'  waits  God's  time  for  its  accomplishment. 
He  who  fed  Israel  in  the  desert  will,  in  due  time,  feed 
him.  Amidst  depression  and  weakness  and  hunger, 
assailed  by  the  prince  of  darkness  himself,  he  stands 
upon  the  mount  of  faith,  serene,  patient,  obedient. 
Where,  in  all  history,  is  there  another  like  him  ;  such 
power,  and  yet  such  self-control ;  such  temptation, 
and  yet  such  decisive  resistance;  such  depression  from 
outward  circumstances,  and  yet  such  serene,  unclouded 


198  SERMONS   ON   THE 

faith  ?      Behold,  O  man,  in  Christ  the  exemplar  for 
yon  !     Behold  in  him  the  victor  for  you  ! 

This  whole  scene  is  full  of  interest  for  all  men.  This 
temptation  is  no  idle  and  fruitless  imagination ;  it  is 
not  a  theoretic  abstraction — something  in  the  clouds, 
far  above  the  practical  lives  of  men.  It  has  a  direct 
and  vital  connection  with  one  of  the  most  pregnant 
sources  of  demoralization  and  sin  in  society.  It  is  a 
temptation  which  every  one  has  to  encounter;  which 
meets  us  at  the  threshold  of  onr  active  life,  and  by 
its  fascinations  has  seduced  and  ruined  millions.  The 
sensuous  appetites  are  absolutely  essential  to  our  ex- 
istence in  these  bodies  and  the  perpetuation  of  the 
race.  God  has  given  them  their  office,  and  though  it 
is  not  the  highest  nor  the  most  honorable,  yet  it  is 
necessary  to  the  higher  operations  of  humanity,  and 
is  neither  degrading  nor  sinful.  Their  sphere  is  nar- 
row, accessory,  temporary,  in  comparison  with  that  of 
those  desires  which  spring  more  directly  from  the 
intellect  and  the  heart ;  but  the  pleasure  attending  in- 
dulgence, while  it  is  short,  is  often  more  intense. 
Kept  in  their  true  sphere,  restrained  within  the  limits 
God  himself,  by  a  law  both  natural  and  moral,  has 
fixed,  they  subserve  man's  elevation  and  happiness. 
Breaking  over  those  limits,  loosened  from  the  control 
of  conscience,  allowed  to  become  supreme,  they  brutify, 
debauch,  dishonor,  and  ruin  the  whole  man.  No  mat- 
ter how  grand  and  noble  may  be  the  mental  capacities, 
no  matter  how  near  an  angel  the  soul  may  be  in  its 
moral  constitution  and  capabilities,  subjection  to  these 
sensual  appetites  defiles,  degrades,  and  wrecks  in  utter 
ruin  all  that  is  noble  in  intellect,  all  that  is  angelic  in 
the  spiritual  constitution.     When  the  tempter  says  : 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  199 


"  You  liavo  the  power ;  use  it  as  you  list  for  the  grati- 
fication of  these  sensuous  appetites,"  if  the  man  yields, 
he  has  put  on  Satan's  livery,  and  with  it  bis  chain, 
and  must  march  with  him  to  perdition. 

There  are  three  lines  of  sensual  indulgence  along 
wdiich  the  tempter  plies  his  arts  of  seduction.  The 
iirst,  and  perhaps  the  least  hurtful,  is  the  desire  for 
food ;  this  he  exaggerates,  makes  the  victim  a  gour- 
mand, who  counts  the  pleasures  of  the  table  the  chief 
joy  of  life.  The  second  is  the  desire  for  ph^-sical  ex- 
citement, begetting  an  unnatural  appetite  for  strong- 
drink.     The  third  is  sexual  desire. 

I^ow  the  point  where  temptation  comes  in  with  en- 
hanced power,  where  the  tempter  finds  the  gates  open 
for  his  entrance,  is  usually  where  the  full  power  of 
selt-indulgeuce  is  obtained.  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God, 
command  this  stone  to  be  made  bread.  Give  a  man 
power,  opportunity,  secresy ;  let  nothing  stand  between 
him  and  indulgence  but  the  invisible  law  of  God ;  let 
him  not  stand  in  fear  of  the  loss  of  reputation  or  of 
health  ;  take  all-  social  restraints  away ;  and  then  see, 
unless  he  is  fixed  by  long  habit  or  is  under  the  control 
of  divine  principle,  the  tremendous  power  of  this 
temptation.  It  is  foi-tunatc  for  men  to  be  early  trained 
where  their  very  circumstances  limit  these  sensuous 
indulgences,  or  where  the  high  moral  standard  of 
society,  and  social  life  exert  a  perpetually  restraining 
influence  to  keep  the  strong  passions  of  3'outh  from 
overleaping  their  lit  bounds.  But  when  this  is  not  so, 
there  profligacy  becomes  the  rule,  and  morality  the 
exception  ;  vice  ascends  the  throne,  and  virtue  retires 
to  lowly  places. 

See  how  a  youth  entering  the  city,  before  his  habits 


200  SERMONS   ON    THE 

and  principles  are  formed  and  settled  on  a  right  basis, 
is  exposed  to  almost  irresistible  temptation.  Here  in 
this  city  of  Utica  his  love  of  excitement  iinds  un- 
healthy stimulants  on  every  side.  He  is  free  to  enjoy? 
to  indulge;  no  father's  eye  is  upon  him;  no  sweet, 
pure  social  circle  is  around  him ;  a  city  government, 
more  intent  on  getting  a  few  dollars  into  its  treasury 
than  in  guarding  its  young  citizens  from  the  contami- 
nation of  vicious  public  exhibitions,  w^orthy  of  Sodom  ; 
vile  theatrical  displays  of  half-nude  women;  saloons 
for  play  and  drink  ;  the  open  doors  of  her  whose  guests 
are  in  the  depths  of  liell;  companions  already  con- 
taminated; these  facilitate  his  descent  while  they  so- 
licit it;  his  own  heart  hungering  for  something,  he 
knows  not  what ;  his  passions  vivid,  strong,  impetu- 
ous ;  power  to  indulge  them  in  his  hands — all  help  on 
the  tempter's  work.  What  wonder  so  many  fall ! 
More  wonderful  that  any  stand !  Power  to  indulge 
is,  I  repeat  it,  the  very  point  of  temptation.  If  the 
telegraph  could  sound  the  secret  messages  it  flashes  to 
New  York,  when  some  men  of  fair  outside  among  us 
are  going  there  on  business,  it  would  show  prepara- 
tions for  self-indulgence  in  the  secresy  of  the  great 
city,  which  circumstances,  not  moral  principle,  put  out 
of  their  reach  here.  And  so  shading  upward  through 
society  from  these  darker  scenes  to  the  social  gather- 
ings where  the  delicate  viands  and  the  wine-cup  con- 
stitute a  greater  attraction  than  the  interchange  of 
thought  and  friendly  conversation,  you  find  tempta- 
tion to  sensual  indulgence  with  all  its  fascinations,  and 
the  appetites  that  should  be  humble  servitors  placed  in 
the  seat  of  honor.  And  so  true  manhood  and  woman- 
hood are  degraded,  and  all  the  refinements  of  dress  and 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  201 

nianiuTs  can  not  veil  the  coarse  and  sensual  devil  they 
worship. 

This  temptation  in  the  wilderness  is  repeated  every 
day  and  hour  the  world  over.  Every  man,  every 
woman,  every  child  in  this  house  has  had  to  meet  it, 
has  yet  to  meet  it  in  some  form.  How  shall  we  resist 
it;  how  rise  above  it?  Just  as  Jesus  met  it.  Parley 
not ;  hesitate  not ;  look  not  on  the  wine  when  it  moveth 
itself  aright;  treat  your  body  as  a  servant  and  not  as 
your  master.  Rising  up  to  the  heights  where  Jesus 
would  lead  you,  think  of  the  value  and  true  life  of  your 
soul — its  eternity  to  be  made  holy  and  happy  by  your 
course  in  time.  Take  God's  word  as  your  rule,  your 
guide,  your  armory  of  defense  ;  strike  at  temptation 
with  the  SAvord  of  the  spirit.  The  world  helps  you 
not.  David's  pebble  slung  in  faith  is  mightier  than 
Goliath's  sword.  Give  your  heart  to  God.  Take 
Christ  himself,  who  fought  through  this  temptation 
for  3'ou — take  him  to  be  your  strength  and  your 
helper.  Here  alone,  as  a  true,  humble,  penitent,  be- 
lieving Christian,  are  you  safe.  Oh  !  what  a  blessing 
it  is  to  become  a  child  of  God  j'oung;  to  learn  to  live 
as  man  should  live  while  you  are  yet  in  youth.  What 
temptations  you  avoid  ;  Avhat  power  to  resist  tempta- 
tion you  obtain  !  For  God  and  Christ,  and  Christians 
and  angels  are  on  your  side  against  Satan  and  his 
worldly  allies. 

See  that  man  who,  instead  of  serving  Christ  while 
young,  yielded  to  temptation,  debauched  his  soul  years 
ago;  now  he  strives  to  rise  above  it  in  his  own  strength  ; 
his  imagination  is  defiled,  his  will  is  weak,  the  fire  c.f 
passion  smolders  in  his  soul.  Oh  !  what  a  judgment 
day  is  before  him  ! 


202  SERMOiS\S    ON    THE 

See  that  man,  still  young  !  A  few  years  ago  he  was 
bright  and  prosperous;  friends  praised  him;  he  was 
on  the  high  road  of  advancement  towards  honor  and 
fame;  trusted  and  loved.  ISTow  he  is  a  slave;  he 
yielded  to  the  tempter,  and  he  wears  his  livery  !  See 
how^  he  struggles,  resolves,  and  re-resolves.  In  vain  ! 
in  vain  !  the  chain  eats  into  his  soul.  He  is  despised, 
distrusted;  friends  leave  him;  Death,  on  his  pale 
horse,  in  all  his  terrors,  is  moving  toward  him.  Oh  ! 
can  nothing  save  hira  ?  Yes  !  one,  and  one  only,  can. 
save;  for  him  Christ  died;  for  him  Jesus  conquered 
the  tempter.  Oh  !  if  he  will  but  come,  a  pool',  lost 
sinner,  and  lay  hold  of  Christ;  if  he  wnll  but  say  to 
him,  in  ever  so  feeble  accents,  Lord,  save,  or  I  perish  ! 
there  is  help,  there  is  mercy  even  for  him. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  203 


XII. 
OX   THE    TEMPTATION    (nO.    5.) — THE    SECOND    TEMPTATION. 

"  Then  the  devil  toketh  him  up  into  the  holy  city,  and 
setteth  him  on  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  saith  unto  him, 
'  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down :  for  it  is 
written.  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee  : 
and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  iqj,  lest,  at  any 
time,  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.'  Jesus  saith  unto 
him,  '■It  is  vrritten  again.  Thou  shall  not  tempt  the  Lord 
thy  God:  "—Matt,  iv,  5-7. 

The  order  in  wliieli  the  temptations  are  recorded  is 
different  in  Luke.  He  places  this  temptation  last. 
The  natural  explanation  is  that  Matthew  follows  the 
order  of  time,  Luke  that  of  place.  Luke  puts  the 
temptations  that  occurred  in  the  wilderness  together, 
and  then  gives  the  one  that  took  place  at  Jerusalem. 
Matthew's  is  clearly  the  order  of  time,  and  harmonizes 
better  with  the  linal  statement,  that  the  angels  came 
and  ministered  to  him.  We  shall  find  all  through  the 
life  of  Christ  these  diversities,  showing  the  dilferent 
principles  on  which  the  narratives  are  constructed. 
Chronological  accuracy  is  rarely  sought  for — the  great 
object  being  to  present  the  life  of  Jesus  in  his  teach- 
ings and  miracles,  rather  than  to  trace  out  his  progress 
from  day  to  day.  This,  indeed,  would  not  have  been 
possible  without  incumbering  the  narrative  with  a 
vast  amount  of  local  and  statistical  information  of  no 


204  SEEMONS   0?^    THE 

special  importance.  The  gospels  in  this  case  would 
have  assumed  the  form  of  ponderous  volumes.  Hence 
each  writer  fixed  upon  those  parts  and  events  iii  the 
life  .of  our  Lord  which  seemed  to  him  best,  and  grouped 
them  together  according  to  a  plan  of  his  own.  The 
result  is  we  have  four  narratives,  concise  and  yet  full, 
differing  from  each  other  in  form  and  manner  and 
material,  furnishing  to  the  world  the  most  complete 
picture  of  the  words  and  acts  of  Jesus,  and  evincing 
everywhere  the  independence,  the  sincerity,  and  the 
faithfulness  of  the  writers.  There  is  no  life  of  any  of 
the  great  men  of  antiquity  that  possesses  a  tithe  of  the 
evidence  of  its  historical  reality  that  attaches  to  this. 
And  instead  of  being  troubled  at  the  diversities  which 
exist  in  these  narratives,  we  should  thank  God  for 
the  wisdom  that  wrought  them  into  one  harmonious 
whole. 

In  this  second  temptation  the  scene  is  apparently 
laid  in  Jerusalem.  Some  commentators  suppose  it 
occurred  in  the  wilderness,  and  that  it  was  wholly 
spiritual;  or,  in  other  words,  imaginary.  Satan  by 
his  peculiar  power  raised  these  ideas  in  the  mind  of 
Jesus,  so  that  he  seemed  to  himself  to  stand  on  the 
temple.  In  opposition  to  this  theory,  it  seems  clear 
to  me  that  we  must  take  the  description  literally. 
Christ  actually  went  to  Jerusalem,  and  then  the 
temptation  occurred  just  as  it  is  described.  In  sup- 
port of  this  opinion,  the  following  reasons  are  conclu- 
sive :  1.  It  is  obvious  from  the  language  of  both  Mat- 
thew and  Luke  that  they  believed  Jesus  Avent  to 
Jerusalem.  They  state  the  occurrence  positively,  in 
language  adapted  to  convey  this  idea.  They  give  no 
hint  of  any  kind  on  which  to  base  an  opposite  opinion. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  205 


Tliej  are  our  sole  authorities.  Jesus,  in  liis  conver- 
sations with  his  disciples  on  tliis  subject,  must  have 
authorized  them  to  make  such  a  statement,  with  the 
design  of  having  it  understood  literally.  In  every  case 
where  a  parabolic  or  imaginary  scene  is  given  in  order 
to  illustrate  a  spiritual  truth,  there  is  always  something 
in  the  representation  to  indicate  the  fact.  Here  there 
is  nothing  of  the  kind.  Ko  one,  in  reading  it,  unless 
he  had  some  special  theory  to  support,  would  ever  sus- 
pect that  it  was  not  a  literal  statement  of  a  simple  his- 
torical fact.  The  language  employed  by  both  writers 
is  very  clear.  Matthew  says  the  devil  took  Jesus,  as- 
sociated him  with  him  as  a  companion,  like  two  per- 
sons traveling  together.  For  this  is  the  meaning  of 
the  Greek  word  7Tar>ala[t^dvec.  Luke  says  he  led  or 
conducted  him  to  the  holy  city — Yfayev.  Both  describe 
a  literal  fact  in  unequivocal  terms.  Jesus  came  into 
the  wilderness  to  be  tempted,  and  after  the  forty  days 
he  was  designedly  left  to  the  influences  of  this  prince  of 
deceivers.  Under  his  influence  he  went  to  Jerusalem. 
On  the  plain  and  simple  statement  of  these  sacred 
writers  it  is  safe  to  stand.  According  to  the  only  au- 
thority we  have  in  the  case,  Jesus  actually  \vent  to 
Jerusalem  and  was  tliere  tempted. 

But,  2.  The  eutire  scene  when  taken  literally  is  in 
harmony  with  itself  and  with  all  the  known  facts  in 
the  case.  The  wilderness,  where  Christ  spent  his  forty 
days,  pushes  up  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Jerusalem. 
No  sooner  are  you  over  Olivet,  and  past  Bethany,  than 
you  plunge  right  into  it.  It  was  only  a  short  walk  from 
this  point  to  the  city.  There  is  no  antecedent  improb- 
ability, therefore,  from  the  distance,  against  this  opin- 
ion, but  everything  in  favor  of  it.     Then  the  position 


206  SERMONS   ON    THE 

in  which  Christ  is  said  to  have  been  placed  corresponds 
exactly  with  the  known  facts.  He  is  said  to  have 
stood  on  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple.  The  term,  ''hftov, 
is  temple  is  general,  and  includes  not  only  the  central 
building,  which  was  called  Nao:;,  or  temple  proper,  but 
the  courts  and  surrounding  structures.  The  central 
building  was  covered  with  spikes  to  prevent  the  birds 
from  resting  upon  it.  ISTo  man  could  stand  there. 
But  around  this  there  were  courts  or  cloisters  resting 
on  pillars,  some  of  them  quite  lofty,  rising  from  thirty 
to  fifty  feet,  and  two  hundred  feet  above  the  temple  area. 
And  as  they  were  built  against  the  outer  wall  there 
was  in  some  cases  a  sheer  descent  of  more  than  one 
hundred  feet.  They  were  built  with  flat  roofs  and 
with  towers  in  the  corners  and  other  points.  It  seems 
probable  from  their  construction  that  the  people  as- 
cended to  the  roofs  and  walked  upon  them.  The  view 
was  magnificent,  and  in  the  cool  of  the  day  the  posi- 
tion most  delightful.  Now  the  Greek  term,  translated 
pinnacle,  means  literally  a  wing,  or  a  little  wing.  For 
these  cloisters  were  folded  round  the  main  temple  like 
the  wings  of  a  bird.  We  use  the  same  term  in  the 
same  way  in  modern  architecture.  We  speak  of  the 
wing  of  a  building.  Now  it  is  clear  that  Satan  could 
easily  have  conducted  Jesus  on  to  one  of  these  wings, 
and  then  to  one  of  the  towers  or  points,  or  termina- 
tions, like  that  near  the  gate  Beautiful  on  the  south 
side  "of  the  temple  area.  Standing.here,  on  what  seems 
to  have  been  a  peculiar  eminence,  he  would  have  below 
him  on  one  side  the  temple  area  crowded  with  wor- 
shipers, and  on  the  other  the  street  leading  up  to  the 
gate  thronged  with  people  ascending  and  descending. 
If  from  such  a  point  he  threw  himself  into  the  court 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  207 

below,  the  lieiii;lit  was  great  enough,  unless  snpernatu- 
rally  sustained,  to  have  killed  him.  If  he  fell  outside 
the  wall,  death  was  naturall}^  inevitable.  Here,  then, 
you  have  all  the  elements  of  this  second  temptation, 
and  they  harmonize  perfectly  with  the  descri^jtions 
given  by  the  sacred  writers.  (See  Porter's  Giant  Cities 
of  Bash  an.) 

In  addition  to  those  reasons  for  accepting  the  state- 
ment in  the  text  as  a  literal  account  of  the  fact,  I 
mention  still  another.  This  view  enhances  the  realify 
and  the  force  of  the  temptation.  It  gives  it  its  true  real- 
ity, life  and  power.  jS'othing  is  vague,  cloudy,  ab- 
struse ;  we  see  at  once  how  the  time,  the  place,  the 
circumstances,  all  contribute  to  its  power.  Compare  it 
with  some  other  views.  Take  the  account  as  given 
by  Dr.  Furness.  Christ  is  wandering  in  the  desert — 
"Absorbed  in  thought,  heedless  of  his  steps,  his  foot 
strikes  against  a  stone  and  he  stumbles.  Perhaps  he 
is  in  danger  of  a  serious  full.  Instantly  there  occurs 
to  him  a  passage  of  scripture,  '  He  will  give  his  angels 
charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  w^ays,  lest  at 
any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone,'  and  then 
"^it  occurs  to  him  that  since  he  has  angels  attending 
him  at  every  step  saving  bim  from  the  slightest  hurt, 
why  may  not  he  go  to  the  city,  the  great  city  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  ascend  one  of  the  pinnacles  of  the  temple 
and  cast  himself  olf,  and  dis[ilay  to  the  astonished 
crowd  below  his  power  of  securing  his  owm  safety  by 
means  of  these  invisible  attendants."  Here  he  first 
takes  out  of  the  narrative  what  the  sacred  writers  put 
there,  Satanic  agency.  Here  he  imagines  that  Christ 
struck  his  foot  against  a  stone  and  was  in  danger  of  a 
fall  ;  then  he  inuigines  that  Christ  recollected   a  par- 


208  SERMONS   OX    THE 

ticiilar  text  of  scripture;  then  he  imagines  that  Christ 
imagined  that  he  might  go  to  Jerusalem  and  fling 
himself  from  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple.  And  this  is  a 
temptation  which  it  cost  Jesus  a  struggle  to  overcome  ! 
What  a  delightful  and  effective  art  is  this  refined  sci- 
ence of  criticism!  It  can  take  out  of  a  narrative  the 
main  facts  in  it;  then  it  can  put  in  it  entirely  new 
facts  at  its  pleasure,  and  on  these  assumed  facts  erect 
a  building  to  suit  its  own  fancy.  We  have  heard  of  a 
)  man  who  contended,  after  he  had  put  a  new  blade  into 
an  old  handle  and  then  a  new  handle  to  the  new  blade, 
that  it  was  the  same  identical  old  knife,  although 
every  part  was  new.  We  laugh  at  the  man's  stupid 
simplicity,  and  we  might  laugh  at  the  equally  stupid 
simplicity  of  these  modern  critics,  were  the  subject  not 
so  serious,  and  did  we  not  know  that  this  falsification  of 
history  the  most  sacred,  stupid  and  wicked  as  it  is, 
destructive  as  its  principles  are  of  all  his  historic  faith, 
is  yet  accepted  by  many  who  wish  to  bring  down 
Christ  to  their  level  and  reduce  all  religion  to  mere 
naturalism. 

But  leaving  these  bold  deniers  of  the  truth,  let  us 
turn  to  such  men  as  Lange,  Keander,  and  others, 
whose  faith  in  the  divine  Christ  and  the  inspiration 
of  his  word  is  undoubted.  In  their  opinion,  this 
second  temptation  occurred  in  the  wilderness.  Satan, 
by  his  peculiar  power,  placed  Christ  in  spirit  on  the 
pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  tempted  him  to  cast  him- 
self down.  N'ow,  without  denying  the  power  of 
Satan  to  do  this  thing,  we  affirm  that  such  a  tempta- 
tion could  not  possibly  have  the  same  force  and  reality 
as  it  would  were  Christ  actually  standing  on  the  wing 
of  the  temple.     In  the  one  case  the  senses  would  tend 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  209 


constantly  to  correct  and  nullify  the  satanic  influence  ; 
in  the  other  they  would  necessarily  heighten  it.     His 
position  in  the  wilderness,  his  sight,  his  hearing,  are  in 
one  case  all  opposed  to  the  influence  exerted  upon  him 
and  tend  to  counteract  it ;  in  the  other  his  position  on 
the  dizzy  height,  the  sounds  around  him,  the  swarm- 
ing multitudes,  all  give  a  special  force  and  reality  to 
the  temptation.    It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  in  both^he 
other  temptations  Satan  starts  from  a  material   stand- 
point, and  uses  that  to  give  effect  to  his  own  power. 
In  the  flrst  it  is  the  stone  before  Jesus ;  in  the  third  it 
is  the  view  from  a  mountain.    And  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if,  with  Jerusalem  so  near,  he  did  not  make 
the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  the  material  stand-point  to 
heighten  the  force  of  the  second  temptation.     And 
thus,  without  attempting  to  develope  this  argument 
further,  it  seems  clear  to  me,  from  the  explicH  state- 
ments of  the  sacred  writers,  from  the  harmony  of  all 
the  supposed   facts  in  the  case,   and  from  this,  the 
greater  effectiveness  of  the  temptation,  that  Christ  was 
actually  led  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  tempted. 

IS^ow,  let  us  come  directly  to  the  temptation.  Leav- 
ing the  wilderness,  Satan  conducts  Jesus  through 
Bethany  up  to  the  summit  of  Olivet.  Jerusalem,1u 
all  its  pride  and  glory,  is  below  him.  Jerusalem,  the 
city  of  the  great  king.  Jerusalem,  discrowned  and 
subject  to  imperial  Eome.  Jerusalem,  with  all  its 
sacred  memories  and  thrilling  associations,  fills  his  eye 
and  touches  his  heart.  For  he  is  its  rightful  king ; 
yet  there  he  is  to  suffer  as  a  malefactor.  They  descend 
to  and  cross  the  Kidron,  enter  the  city,  pass  into  the 
inclosure  of  the  temple,  ascend  the  south-eastern 
18 


210  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

cloister  and  the  lofty  tower  or  pinnncle  or  wing,  at 
the  point  where  the  walls  unite.  Standing  here,  what 
a  scene  of  varied  splendor  and  busy  life  meets  the  eye! 
The  city  itself,  with  its  palaces  on  Mount  Zion,  and  its 
lofty  habitations  stretching  to  the  west  and  north. 
Around  and  inclosing  the  whole  are  the  mountains  in 
their  vernal  beauty,  like  a  glorious  setting  for  this 
jewel  of  the  world  ;  below  and  opposite  are  the  temple 
proper,  in  its  gilded  magnificence,  and  the  cloisters  in 
their  pillared  beauty  ;  while  on  the  east  and  south 
are  the  deep  gorges  of  Kidron  and  Himraon.  It  is  the 
hour  of  evening  prayer.  The  area  below,  the  bridge 
leading  from  Mount  Zion,  the  street  up  which  they 
pass  through  the  Beautiful  gate,  are  crowded  with 
people  thronging  to  and  around  the  holy  temple.  The 
Pharisee  is  there,  with  his  broad  phylacteries,  going 
over,  in  a  loud  voice,  his  endless  repetitions  of  formal 
prayers ;  here  and  there  a  poor  publican,  with  down- 
cast eyes,  smites  upon  his  breast  and  from  his  heart 
prays,  "God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner;"  wliile 
others,  with  little  of  either  the  form  or  reality  of  de- 
votion, are  mingling  in  converse  or  trafficking  with 
the  sellers  of  things  for  sacrifice.  Yet  among  all  the 
multitude  there  is  not  one  heart  that  does  not  antici- 
pate the  coming  of  Messiah,  that  has  not  been  stirred 
by  the  annunciations  of  the  Baptist,  or  that  does  not 
thrill  with  the  hopes  of  his  speedy  coming  to  cast 
down  the  Roman  from  yonder  tower  of  Antonio  and 
make  Jerusalem  again  the  seat  of  the  most  glorious 
sovereignty  iu  the  world.  Unknown,  hardly  noticed, 
on  that  lofty  pinnacle,  stands  this  very  Messiah,  look- 
ing with  a  serene  eye  upon  this  wonderful  people. 
And  now  there  is  a  hush  of  the  many- voiced  multi- 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  211 


tudc  ;  out  of  the  gates  of  the  temple  swells  the  solemn 
chant  of  the  Levites  ;  clearer  and  louder  it  falls  upon 
the  ear  ;  one,  and  tlien  another,  take  up  the  words  of 
the  triumphant  72(1  psalm,  until,  like  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  like  the  majestic  harmonies  of  Niagara, 
peal  forth  from  every  voice  in  unison  the  sublime 
strains  of  that  grandest  Messianic  anthem  :  "  lie  shall 
have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river 
nnto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  All  kings  shall  fall  down 
before  him;  all  nations  shall  serve  him  ;  his  name  shall 
endure  forever ;  his  name  shall  be  continued  as  long 
as  the  sun ;  and  men  shall  be  blessed  in  him ;  all 
nations  shall  call  him  blessed."  And  as  the  psalm 
ends  and  the  last  notes  die  away  in  lingering  echoes 
among  the  surrounding  hills,  every  heart  beats 
quickl}',  every  eye  is  sparkling  with  the  anticipated 
vision  of  the  speedy  coming  of  their  long-expected 
triumphing  Messiah. 

Now,  Satan,  thy  hour  is  come.  For  the  Messiah 
himself  stands  there,  thrilled  by  that  sublime  rehearsal 
of  the  prophet's  vision  of  himself  and  his  kingdom, 
and  longing  to  reveal  himself  to  Israel.  With  con- 
summate art  he  approaches  him.  He  does  not  now 
appeal  to  his  personal  power  ;  he  does  not  say :  Cast 
thyself  down,  and  by  thy  own  divine  strength  hold 
thyself  up  from  destruction.  lie  tried  this  in  the  first 
temptation,  and  failed.  But  now  he  strikes  another 
chord.  He  quotes  scripture.  He  does  it  often  in  the 
persons  of  wicked  men,  when  he  thinks  it  will  serve 
his  pur[)ose.  The  91st  psalm  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  consolatory  descriptions  of  the  divine  care 
and  protection  over  all  true  believers.  It  breathes 
sublime  contideuce  and   peace  into  the  pious   heart 


212  SERMOXS   ON   THE 

amidst  the  dangers  and  trials  which  are  round  it  in  the 
path  of  duty.  He  who  is  lilled  with  its  spirit  is  calm 
amidst  excitement,  bold  amidst  dangers,  confident 
and  strong  amidst  the  earthquakes  and  hurricanes  of 
nature,  or  the  wild  rage  of  the  embattled  passions  and 
forces  of  wickedness  in  its  assault  upon  the  truth  and 
kingdom  of  Jesus. 

From  this  noble  psalm,  the  devil  quotes  a  promise 
of  protection  and  support.  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God, 
cast  thyself  down  ;  reveal  thyself  to  this  waiting  multi- 
tude ;  has  not  God  said,  He  will  give  his  angels  charge 
concerning  thee,  and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear 
thee  up,  lest  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone  ? 
Surely,  if  thou  art  his  son,  he  will  do  for  thee  what 
he  promises  to  do  for  every  true  believer.  This  is  the 
fit  hour  and  place  to  test  his  faithfulness.  In  so  do- 
ing, you  will  make  yourself  known  as  Messiah  to  this 
people  ;  they  will  at  once  hail  you  as  their  king.  Is 
not  this  an  object  worthy  of  the  putting  forth  of  the 
divine  power,  according  to  promise?  Such  is  the 
temptation.  The  time,  the  place,  the  people  —  all  en- 
hance its  force. 

See,  now,  how  the  temptation  is  met.  If  Christ 
had  been  a  mere  enthusiast,  if  he  had  assumed  a  char- 
acter which  did  not  rightly  belong  to  him,  or  attempted 
a  work  for  which  he  was  unfitted,  he  would,  like  mul- 
titudes of  others,  have  seized  upon  the  first  plausible 
warrant  of  scripture  that  suited  his  personal  aims, 
and  the  temptation  would  have  been  irresistible.  Suit- 
ing the  action  to  the  apparent  promise,  he  would  have 
cast  himself  headlong  to  destruction.  But  Jesus  was 
no  enthusiast;  he  was  not  blindly  to  be  led  to  do  an 
act  which  involved  sin.     He  sees  at  once  that  the  act 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  213 

he  was  tempted  to  perform  was  based  not  upon  a])rin- 
ciple  of  legitimate  faitii,  but  of  wicked  presumption ; 
that  Satan  has  made  a  confessedly  poetic  description 
of  the  divine  protection  a  literal  basis  for  acts  God 
never  warranted.  Oh !  when  the  soul  is  in  full  sym- 
j)athy  with  God's  will,  how  almost  instinctively  it  de- 
tects the  seminal  principles  of  error ;  how  easily  and 
grandly  it  rises  above  the  misconceptions  of  passion, 
the  misinterpretations  of  satanic  and  worldly  influ- 
ences, to  a  clearer  vision  of  the  simple  truth,  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.  The  Savior's  answer  is  given  in  the  words  of 
divine  truth.  He  quotes  from  Deut.  vi,  16,  but  changes 
ye  into  tJiou — Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God. 
He  repels  the  artful  temptation  based  upon  a  designed 
misapplication  of  one  part  of  scripture,  by  another  clear 
and  authoritative  enunciation  of  scripture.  He  does 
not  oppose  scripture  to  scripture,  as  if  there  could  be  a 
contradiction  between  them.  He  only  interprets  one 
scripture  by  another.  lie  puts  together  the  truths 
which  stand  related  to  each  other  and  conjointly  form 
the  perfect  whole.  Truth  is  many-sided ;  especially 
these  grand  truths  of  God's  Word.  If  you  look  only 
at  one  side,  and  neglect  the  others,  you  have  but  an 
imperfect  conception  of  the  wdiole.  In  a  building  of 
noble  proportions,  there  are  parts  which,  taken  singly, 
seem  awkward  and  practically  false ;  but,  when  seen 
in  position,  they  rise  to  the  beautiful  and  true.  Jesus 
says, at  one  time:  Ye  can  not  come  to  me.  Taken  by 
itself,  men  would  say  :  Then  we  are  bound  iu  the 
chains  of  fate ;  and  how  can  we  believe  ?  He  says  again : 
Yq  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  might  have  life.  Put 
the  two  together  and  you  have  the  whole  truth  ;  one 
explains  the  other;  one  shows  the  true  meaning  of 


214  SERMONS   ON    THE 

the  other.  Three-fourths  of  all  the  theological  contro- 
versies in  the  world  have  resulted  from  this  narrow, 
one-sided  method  of  interpretation.  There  is  a  beau- 
tiful harmony,  a  wonderful  justness  of  proportion,  in 
the  Word  of  God.  The  Old  Testament  and  the  New 
illustrate  each  other.  And  the  broad-minded,  clear 
student  of  the  Word  soon  learns  to  trace  out  truth  in 
its  relations,  and  then,  with  every  step,  it  swells  into 
harmony,  and  he  hears  the  voices  of  prophets  and 
apostles  mingling  in  one  glorious  anthem  of  praise. 

Jesus  here  flashes  upon  his  tempter  a  fundamental 
truth,  which  is  the  base  melody  of  that  glorious  91st 
psalm.  The  inspired  writer  describes,  in  bold  figures, 
and  with  that  symbolic  exaggeration  which  is  one  of 
the  most  impressive  elements  of  true  poetry  and  sep- 
arates it  widely  from  literal  prose,  the  protection 
which  God  gives  to  the  good  man.  But  through  it 
all  there  is  presupposed  the  harmony  of  his  life  with 
the  will  of  God.  The  devil,  in  his  cunning,  drops  out 
of  his  quotation  that  sentence  in  the  original  which 
would  have  suggested  this.  For  it  is  not.  He  shall 
give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee,  as  if  it 
were  absolute  ;  but  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways — the 
ways  in  which  as  a  man  of  God  you  ought  to  walk. 
Here  is  the  mighty  difference  between  presumption 
and  a  just  confidence  in  the  divine  support.  Presump- 
tion plans  for  itself  without  reference  to  God's  will ; 
true  faith  lays  its  plans  in  harmony  with  the  principles 
of  true  wisdom,  and  then  looks  to  God  with  holy  con- 
fidence for  support.  Presumption  adopts  unwar- 
Tanted  measures  to  test  God's  faithfulness;  true 
faith  never  tests  God's,  promises  at  all,  but,  in  the 
path   of   duty,   quietly  commits  itself  to  the    divine 


LIFE    OF    CHKIST.  215 

guidance.  Presumption  says,  now  I  will  see  whether 
God  means  what  he  says ;  and  there  is  always  a 
latent  reservation  that  if  he  does  not  prosper  me  in 
this  plan  of  mine,  I  will  trust  him  no  more.  Faith 
knows  God  is  true  ;  walks  in  the  dark  as  well  as  in 
the  light;  says:  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust 
him.  Tlius  Christ  discriminates  between  faith  and 
presumption.  If  the  motive  was  to  test  God's  fiiith- 
fulness,  he  needed  n(j  such  test,  for  his  faith  was 
always  strong  and  clear.  If  it  was  to  display  the  di- 
vine power,  and  thus,  as  Messiah,  put  himself  at  once 
at  the  head  of  the  Jewish  hierarchy,  the  time  had  not 
yet  come;  the  people  were  unprepared  for  such  a 
manifestation  ;  it  would  have  been  a  mere  vain  dis- 
play, issuing  in  nothing,  to  be  treated  as  the  trick  of 
a  juggler,  exciting  wonder  and  excitement,  without 
one  good  result.  For  the  kingdom  of  Christ  was  to 
be  established  on  his  life  and  his  teachings,  as  well  as 
on  the  manifestation  of  supernatural  power.  He,  as 
man,  was  subject  to  law,  and  this  required  that  his 
life  should  be  in  perfect  accord  with  the  will  of  God. 
His  course  was  ever  guided  by  wisdom.  How  cautious 
is  he  in  exposing  himself  to  danger,  or  in  placing  him- 
self in  the  hands  of  the  people,  when  they  wi'shed  to 
make  him  king.  How  he  often  veils  his  Messiahship 
for  the  time,  and  retires  into  secret  places.  iSTever 
does  he  work  a  miracle,  except  for  some  beneficent  end. 
When  solicited  by  the  Pharisees  to  show  them  a  sign 
of  his  authority,  he  persistently  refuses,  and  gives 
them  only  a  prophetic  description  of  his  death  and 
resurrection.  Thus  he  holds  the  fuller  displays  of  his 
divinity  in  reserve,  while,  by  his  life  and  teacliings, 
he  was  laying  the  broad  foundation  for  his  kingdom, 


216  SERMONS   ON   THE 

in  obedience  to  the  divine  will.  Then,  when  his  hour 
is  come,  he  goes  to  Jerusalem ;  he  marches  right  into 
the  lions'  den  ;  he  submits  to  the  divine  purpose  in 
the  assured  confidence  of  final  victory.  Yet,  even 
when  in  the  hall  of  Pilate,  and  on  the  cross,  he  will 
not  pray  for  the  legions  of  angels  to  rescue  him ;  be- 
cause it  was  through  suflTering  he  was  to  triumph,  and 
by  death  he  was  to  win  immortal  life  for  millions  of 
souls.  This  divine  man  here  stands  erect  before  the 
fierce  temptation  of  the  adversary,  and  conquers  him 
again  for  us ;  we  w^ere  in  his  eye  and  in  his  heart  at 
that  hour.  And  for  two  thousand  years  his  sublime 
victory  has  been  the  inspiration  of  innumerable  souls 
in  their  trials  and  temptations. 

Let  us  learn  the  lesson  he  teaches  us  to-day.  1.  We 
see  the  wide  difference  between  true  confidence  in 
God  and  a  presumptuous  trust.  Faith  is  always  as- 
sured that  God  reigns  ;  that  he  is  ever  pledged  to  order 
all  events  so  as  to  promote  the  highest  good  of  all  true 
believers.  Faith  obeys;  faith  is  wise  and  cautious  in 
the  use  of  the  appointed  means ;  faith  compares 
scripture  with  scripture  to  ascertain  the  whole  truth  ; 
faith  is  subject  to  law,  and  impels  us  to  the  use  of  the 
best  means  to  gain  good  ends.  And  then  it  calmly 
commits  the  future  to  God.  If  trials  come,  if  sorrow, 
bereavement,  loss  of  property,  loss  of  health,  death 
come,  in  the  path  of  duty,  it  trusts,  with  absolute  as- 
surance, the  divine  promise;  and  rising  above  these  ex- 
ternal trials,  it  triumphs  even  before  it  enters  the  pearly 
gates.  But  presumption  is  blind  ;  it  is  self-seeking ; 
it  trusts  without  Avarrant;  it  does  not  seek  fully  to 
know  and  do  the  divine  Avill ;  it  makes  an  imagina- 
tion to  be  reality,  because  it  is  not  willing  to  see  as  it 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  217 

ought ;  it  is  not  cautious,  nor  wise ;  it  lays  its  plans 
without  reference  to  the  divine  will,  and  then  hopes 
God  will  prosper  it.  If  it  is  a  man's  duty  to  go  to 
England,  he  looks  out  for  the  best  and  safest  means  of 
conveyance,  and  then  faith  commits  the  issue  to  God; 
but  presumption  goes  blindly,  without  the  highest  ref- 
ence  to  duty,  boards  a  crazy  craft,  and  still  hopes  God 
will  send  a  safe  deliverance. 

But,  2d,  presumption  is  both  wicked  and  dangerous. 
It  is  always  founded  in  sin,  and  ends  in  death ;  for  what- 
ever is  not  of  true  faith,  is  sin.  A  man  once  had  some 
religious  emotion — once  indulged  a  hope  of  acceptance 
with  God;  now  his  soul  is  full  of  the  world  ;  there  is 
no  love  for  God  ;  no  spirit  of  prayer ;  no  penitence  for 
sin ;  no  cross-bearing  for  Jesus ;  no  delight  in  God's 
service ;  yet  he  clings  to  that  dead  hope,  and  goes 
through  a  round  of  cold,  formal  duties,  and  expects 
somehow  to  be  saved.  Oh !  sinful,  lost  soul !  Did 
not  Christ  warn  thee  against  the  indulgence  of  such 
presumptuous  hopes,  when  he  told  thee  how  many 
who  had  eaten  and  drunk  in  his  presence,  would 
knock  at  the  gate  of  heaven,  crying:  Lord!  Lord! 
open  to  us  !  And  he  would  answer:  Depart;  I  never 
knew  you  !  Faithless  professor,  here  see  how  Christ 
resisted  the  temptation  to  presumption,  and  come  to- 
night, and  cast  yourself  at  his  feet,  confessing  your  sin, 
or  you  are  a  lost  soul. 

Parents  will  sometimes  allow  their  children  to  grow 
up  disobedient  —  train  them  to  be  selfish,  to  prize 
the  riches,  and  honors,  and  pleasures  of  life  as  the 
chief  things — and  then  hope  that  God  will  prosper 
them,  and  save  them  at  last.  Oh  !  how  many  curses 
19 


218  SERMONS   ON    THE 

will  be  heaped  on  faithless  parents,  at  the  judgment- 
seat,  by  such  children,  when  they  see  who  have 
ruined  them  for  eternity !  Oh !  such  foolish  and 
wicked  presumption,  refusing  to  obey  God,  has  ruined 
souls  innumerable. 

And  so  there  is  oftentimes  a  great  deal  of  sinful 
presumption  in  the  way  men  use  their  bodies  and 
their  minds.  They  act  as  if  health  was  secure  to 
them,  however  much  they  violate  its  laws.  And  they 
do  this  without  the  least  necessity,  or  only  an  imag- 
inary necessity,  under  the  undue  stimulus  of  personal 
gain.  There  may  be  cases  where  the  highest  obliga- 
tion rests  upon  a  man,  for  a  time,  to  work  his  body 
and  mind  up  to  the  full  limit  of  his  powers ;  yea, 
where  he  must  call  upon  the  latent  energies  and  re- 
served forces  of  his  being ;  there  maj^  be  exigencies 
in  life  when,  for  the  good  of  others,  a  man  must  sacri- 
fice himself  as  freely  as  he  would  go  to  a  marriage 
festival.  The  physician  must,  in  times  of  pestilence, 
expose  himself  to  peril,  and  ply  all  his  energies  in 
ministering  to  others;  the  minister  of  Jesus  at  times 
has  no  right  to  consult  ease,  or  health,  or  life  in  the 
work  of  saving  men  ;  the  soldier  must  at  times  endure 
exposure  and  hardship  and  peril  of  life.  But  if  all 
this  is  done  in  obedience  to  the  voice  of  God  clearly 
S23oken,  then  whether  health  be  broken  or  life  itself 
laid  on  the  altar,  faith  may  grasp  the  promises  and 
angels  will  bear  up  the  self-sacrificing  spirit,  and  no 
real  harm  shall  touch  it,  but  a  glorious  victory  shall 
be  awarded  it,  and  a  crown  shall  deck-  its  brow  and 
"the  blessed  saints  on  high  shall  greet  it  with  halle- 
lujahs, and  Jesus  will  say  to  it,  "Forasmuch  as  you 
did  it  for  one  of  these  least,  you  did  it  unto  me."    But 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  219 

tlic  cases  to  which  I  allude  are  not  of  this  character. 
Wlien,  to  gain  fortune  rapidly  or  win  worldly  honors, 
the  man,  regardless  of  God's  physical  and  mental 
laws,  stretches  the  line  to  its  full  tension,  and,  under 
the  spur  of  some  splendid  worldly  prize,  tasks  all  his 
powers  to  the  uttermost,  presuming  that  somehow 
God  will  hring  him  through  all  the  same,  then  he  acts 
Avitliout  warrant,  presumptuously,  and  when  he  goes 
down,  he  has  no  consolation  of  faith  to  sustain  him 
and  no  assurance  of  God's  favor. 

There  is  abroad  at  this  time  a  feverish  desire  for 
I'apid  accumulation,  an  eager  and  rabid  thirst  for 
riches,  which  leads  men  to  forsake  the  old,  beaten 
paths  and  launch  into  boundless  speculations,  and  put 
their  future  on  a  single  stroke  of  fortune.  Our  young 
men,  debauched  by  the  spectacle  of  here  and  there 
one  who  has  won  a  prize  at  a  single  turn  of  the  wheel, 
are  discontented  with  the  slow  gains  and  old  fogy 
ways  of  their  fathers  ;  they  must  at  once  ascend  to  the 
topmost  round  ;  they  must  at  once  take  the  reins  and 
drive  the  horses  of  the  sun.  Under  this  impulse  they 
regard  not  the  plainest  laws  of  integrity  and  success 
wrought  out  in  the  experience  of  all  the  past ;  they 
can  not  see  that  life  is  something  grander  than  riches ; 
they  tread  fearlessly  amid  pitfalls  and  snares,  and  by 
and  by  they  go  down.  These  temptations  to  pre- 
sumption are  round  them  on  every  side.  But  they 
see  no  Christ  resisting  them ;  they  hear  not  the  voice, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God."  They 
will  live  lives  of  transient  excitement,  and  with 
broken  constitutions  and  broken  fortunes  descend  to 
an  early  and  a  dishoiiorcd  grave.  So  in  another  di- 
rection this  Satanic  inlluence  impels  the  young  into 


220  SERMONS   ON    THE 

vicious  courses,  with  the  expectation  after  a  while  of 
becomiug  moral,  able,  and  useful  men  and  women. 
"I  must  sow  my  wild  oats  now,  and  then  for  work 
and  vii'tue  and  domestic  life  !"  I  tell  you,  my  friend, 
these  are  the  devil's  oats.  He  knows  better  than  you 
do  that  as  you  sow,  so  shall  you  reap.  Has  God  or- 
dained that  a  debauched,  frivolous,  misspent  youth 
shall  be  the  stable  foundation  for  an  honorable  and 
useful  life  on  which  you  can  build  domestic  virtue  and 
happiness?  Oh!  vain  presuraer,  it  is  Satan  who  is 
wdiispering  in  your  heart  his  miserable,  false,  wicked 
temptations  to  sin,  knowing  that  he  is  conducting  you 
to  ruin. 

But  there  are  other  ways  in  which  the  danger  and 
wickedness  of  presumption  reveal  themselves.  Yon- 
der is  a  man  who  scorns  and  repels  the  imputation  of 
either  immorality  or  infidelity.  He  believes  in  God ; 
he  believes  in  the  Bible ;  he  believes  that  man  can 
only  be  saved  by  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ.  Is 
he  a  Christian?  Has  he  made  this  truth  the  life  of 
his  soul?  Has  he  repented?  No,  no  !  But  then  he 
expects  to  become  a  Christian.  Some  day — he  has  not 
fixed  the  time — he  will  repent,  and  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  Christ.  On  wliat  does  he  base  this  expec- 
tation? On  life,  on  health,  on  opportunity,  on  the 
supposition  that  to-morrow  shall  be  as  this  day.  Who 
induced  him  to  live  in  sin  with  that  expectation  ? 
God?  ITo,  the  devil.  The  devil  whispered,  "Thou 
shalt  not  die."  Time  enough  yet;  a  little  more  sleep, 
and  he  has  yielded.  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  he  has 
been  tempted,  and  he  has  yielded.  He  presumes 
without  a  particle  of  warrant  that  he  will  have  the 
time  and  the  opportunity  to  repent,  though  he  neglects 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  221 

the  present  hour.  Is  it  not  so  ?  If  you  were  sure 
death  would  knock  at  your  door,  would  you  not  cry 
out,  "What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  Oman!  thou 
art  presuming  wickedly  on  the  long-suffering  patience 
of  thy  God.  Tempt  him  not  again  to-night.  Look 
to  Jesus,  as  he  endured  this  and  all  other  temptations 
for  you,  and  he  will  give  you  the  victory  now  over 
your  great  adversary.  Has  not  God  spoken  to  you  in 
a  voice  of  thunder  the  last  week  ?  Hear  you  not  still 
ringing  in  your  ears  the  cries  of  those  agonized  souls 
as  in  that  wrecked  and  burning  car  they  went  in  an 
instant  to  their  account  ?  *  Beware,  or  your  feet  stand- 
ing on  slippery  places  will  slide  in  due  time. 

But  time  would  fail  me  to  bring  out  all  these  cases 
of  wicked  presumption,  to  show  you  how  men  tempt 
God  by  acting  on  the  supposition  that  He  is  too  good 
to  damn  the  wicked;  and  therefore  somehow,  no  mat- 
ter how  clear  Christ  is  in  his  threatenings,  somehow 
all  men  will  be  saved.  Temptations  to  a  presumptuous 
contidence  in  the  future  unwarranted  by  God,  are 
daily  addressed  alike  to  God's  people  and  the  world. 
It  is  a  field  where  Satan  sets  his  subtle  snares  to  catch 
unwary  souls.  But  Jesus  has  taught  us  to  resist  him. 
Only  one  arm  can  help  us;  only  one  mind  is  wise 
enough  to  teach  us. 

*  Nearly  fifty  passengers  killed  in  the  wreck  of  car  on  Lake 
Shore  road,  at  Angola,  December  18^  1867. 


222  SERMONS   ON    THE 


XIII. 

THE    TEMPTATION. 

'^  A7id  the  devil,  taking  him  up  into  an  high  mountain., 
showed  unto  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a  mo- 
ment of  time  {ev  otyfrq  -/^povoo).  And  the  devil  said  unto 
him,  'All  this  power  will  I  give  thee  and  the  glory  of  them, 
for  that  is  delivered  unto  me,  and  to  whomsoever  Iivill  I 
give  it.  If  thou,  therefore,  wilt  worship  me,  all  shall  be 
thine.'  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  '  Get 
thee  behind  me,  Satan,  for  it  is  written,  21iou  shall  wor- 
ship the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shall  thou  serve.' " — 
Luke  iv.  5-8. 

It  was  remarked,  in  my  discoarse  on  the  second 
temptation,  that  Matthew  followed  the  order  of  time, 
and  Luke  of  place,  in  the  record  of  the  temptations. 
In  the  order  of  time,  this  temptation  is  the  third  and 
last.  The  same  question  respecting  the  literalness  of 
the  temptatioji  occurs  here  as  in  the  second  tempta- 
tion. One  class  of  interpreters  suppose  that  Satan 
acted  directly  on  the  mind  of  the  Savior,  exciting  the 
same  ideas  which  would  have  been  obtained  by  a  di- 
rect vision  of  the  world's  power,  as  if  he  were  on  some 
lofty  eminence,  while  in  reality  he  might  have  been 
anywhere  in  the  desert.  The  view  which  seems  to  me 
best  to  harmonize  with  the  narrative  is  that  the  devil 
actually  took  Christ  to  the  top  of  a  mountain  from 
which  he  could  obtain  a  wide  view,  and  then,  with  this 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  223 


natural  advantage  as  a  basis,  excited  the  idea  of  tliis 
vast  world-power.      The  devil  could    unquestionably 
use  all  the  advantages  he  possessed  to  make  this  temp- 
tation effective.     ]S"ow,  it  is  one  of  the  most  common 
laws  of  the  mind  that   the  direct  view  of  an  object, 
even  in  part,  suggests  ideas  connected  with  it,  and  en- 
'  fuces  the  force  of  these  ideas,  however  excited.    The 
>  lew  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  of  Babylon  from  his 
palace  raised  in  him  ideas  of  his  own  power  and  skill, 
and  gave  a  wonderful  expansion  to  his  pride.     Napo- 
leon's visit  to  Egypt  gave  special  power  to  the  idea  of 
a  vast  oriental  empire,  if  it  did  not  excite  it.     The  fa- 
miliar case  of  the  young  man,  who,  after  he  had  wasted 
his  patrimony  by  intemperance,  ascended  an  eminence 
overlooking  it,  and  there  resolved  to  reform  his  life 
and  win  it  back,  illustrates  the  same  law.     His  posi- 
tion on  that  eminence,  the  sight  of  the  lands  once  his, 
but  his  no  more,  was  the  decisive  point  in  his  life;  the 
influence  of  that  view  strengthened  the  desire,  which 
then  and  there  ripened  into  the  purpose  never  to  rest 
till  they  were  his  again.     Every  one  knows  how  a  po- 
sition in  the  national  councils  and  the  vision  of  power 
stirs  and  enhances  ambition  ;  how  mingling  with  men 
successful  in  winning  large  fortunes  fires  thousands 
with  a  passion  for  such  large  accumulations;  how  lis- 
tening to  a  man  of  eloquence  kindles  the  desire  to  be 
eloquent.     If  a  person   has  a  gold  mine  in  which   lie 
wishes  others  to  take  stock,  he  brings  home  a  few 
nuggets  of  gold,  and  straightway  the  sight  of  the  lit- 
tle excites  a  vision  of  the  great.     This  is  a  common 
principle;  men  everywhere  act  on  it  in  appealing  to 
their  fellow-men.    The  devil  knows  this  law  of  action 
thoroughly ;  he  has  always  acted  on  it,  and  does  now, 


224  SERMONS   ON    THE 

in  seducing  men  into  sin.  In  the  effort  to  tempt  our 
Savior,  he  would  have  acted  foolishly  and  unlike  liim- 
self  not  to  have  availed  himself  of  it.  Taking  him  to 
the  summit  of  a  commanding  eminence,  with  a  vast 
prospect  of  towns  and  cities  around  him,  then,  how 
easily  could  he  have  excited  ideas  of  the  world  be- 
yond ;  how  easily  could  he  make  the  vision  of  the 
present  swell  out  into  and  mingle  with  the  vision  of 
what  was  beyond.  Thus,  in  an  instant,  on  this  visible 
basis,  did  he  construct  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  a  pano- 
rama of  the  world's  power  and  glory,  and  make  it  a 
living  reality — the  mightiest  temptation  ever  addressed 
to  a  human  soul. 

It  is  said  the  devil  showed  him  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world  in  a  moment  of  time.  The  human  mind 
has  immense  capabilities  of  thought,  of  which  now 
and  then  in  actual  life  we  get  a  glimpse.  In  moments 
of  peril,  as  in  drowning,  the  vision  of  a  whole  life  is 
sometimes  present;  and  Satan,  in  order  to  do  his  work 
effectually,  possessed  and  used  this  power  of  develop- 
ing in  the  mind  of  Jesus  instantaneously  a  view  of  all 
the  great  powers  of  the  world  in  their  most  attractive 
form. 

Let  us  now  pass  directly  to  the  temptation.  "  All 
this  will  I  give  thee."  Ambition  for  power  is  said  to 
be  the  infirmity  of  noble  minds.  History  shows  that 
it  is  just  as  often  the  vice  of  the  ignoble  and  the  base. 
The  desire  of  power  to  effect  good  ends  may  exist  in 
the  heart  of  an  unfallen  angel.  It  is  just  as  innocent 
as  the  natural  desire  for  food.  But  in  all  the  truly 
good  it  is  qualified  and  limited  by  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  God  for  its  use ;  by  a  perpetual  reference  to 
him  as  its  source,  and  to  his  will  in  respect  to  its  po- 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  225 

session.  In  llicni  it  never  overpasses  the  limits  of  his 
luithoritative  i)ei-mission  ;  it  is  kept  in  snbjection  to 
his  command,  and  in  harmony  with  every  otlier  right 
principle.  When  it  goes  beyond  this,  it  becomes  self- 
ish ;  it  ministers  to  personal  exaltation  ;  it  disavows 
the  moral  principles ;  it  is  the  most  fruitful  principle 
of  evil  in  the  universe.  Then  it  becomes  a  satanic 
power;  then  it  curses  and  desolates  alike  the  possessor 
and  those  over  whom  he  exercises  it.  Power  is  the 
greatest  prize  that  can  be  offered  to  man ;  power 
brings  the  world  to  your  feet ;  power  lays  its  hand  on 
all  earthly  possessions  and  gratifications  ;  power  con- 
trols and  subdues  minds  and  hearts;  power  combines 
in  itself  everything  in  the  whole  range  of  enjoyment 
that  can  appeal  to  the  corrupt  heart.  This  desire  of 
power,  thus  perverted  to  purposes  of  self-aggrandize- 
ment, tends  ever  to  infinite  mischief.  This  perverted 
ambition  makes  a  law  for  itself,  and  overrides  the  law 
of  God  and  the  rights  and  interests  of  men,  whenever 
that  law  or  those  interests  are  in  conflict  with  its  spirit 
of  self-aggrandizement.  All  down  through  the  ages, 
to  the  unconvicted  traitor  who  incarnated  in  himself 
the  forces  of  the  late  rebellion,  bloody  and  terrible 
illustrations  of  this  fact  reveal  themselves  at  every 
step.  And  when  you  ascend  from  the  little  prizes  that 
tempt  most  men,  to  the  great  power  of  a  kingdom, 
and  from  one  kingdom  to  the  universal  sovereignty 
of  the  w'orld,  then  3'ou  aggregate  together  all  the 
things  w^hich  men  most  desire,  into  one  grand  tempta- 
tion, beyond  wiiich  in  this  world  it  is  impossible  for  you 
to  go.  This  was  the  glory  and  the  power  which  the 
tempter  now  ofiers  to  Jesus.  Vastly  less  tem[)tations 
than  this  had  prevailed  over  the  highest  virtue  ever 


226  SERMONS   ON    THE 


possessed  by  men  ;  their  price  was  easily  paid ;  but 
now  that  he  is  dealing  with  the  Son  of  God,  now  that 
his  skill  and  force  had  been  so  far  resisted,  he  must 
ascend  to  the  summit  of  human  ambition  ;  he  must 
combine  in  one  temptation  all  earthly  power  and  glory, 
and  with  all  his  diabolic  ingenuity  and  force  of  will 
press  it  upon  the  heart. 

Consider,  now,  what  this  temptation  involved. 

1.  The  gift  of  Satan  carried  with  it  the  visible  sove- 
reignty of  the  world  ;  it  carried  with  it  the  world- 
power  with  all  its  glory;  it  made  Christ  the  imperator 
of  the  world,  and  all  its  kings  and  princes  his  lieu- 
tenants ;  it  brought  to  him  at  once,  without  any  change 
of  heart,  all  the  powers  of  earth.  Judea  would  have 
installed  him  king ;  Rome  would  have  made  him  em- 
peror ;  China  and  Hindostan  would  have  acknowl- 
edged his  supremacy,  and  all  kings  and  kingdoms 
would  at  once  have  become  visibly  his.  All  the  art, 
all  the  intellect,  all  the  beauty,  all  the  wealth,  all  the 
powers  of  the  earth  would  have  done  him  homage. 
Can  you  conceive  a  temptation  addressed  to  humanity 
mightier  than  this  ?  This  was  the  very  motive-force 
with  which  Satan,  failing  to  seduce  our  Lord,  has  ever 
since  attempted,  and  with  fearful  success,  to  corrupt 
his  disciples.  This  spirit  created  prelates,  archbishops, 
cardinals,  and  the  pope  as  a  universal  monarch,  claim- 
ing supremacy  over  all  kings  and  kingdoms  ;  this  led 
to  the  abandonment  of  the  original  simplicity  of  wor- 
ship, and  developed  a  religion  of  outward  pomp  and 
show  and  form,  assimilating  the  church  to  the  visible 
giory  and  power  of  world-powers  ;  this  is  the  spirit  of 
antichrist,  called  by  the  apostle,  with  condensed  energy, 
the  "  wicked,"  as  if  it  were  the  very  essence  of  evil, 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  227 

Avliicli  everywhere  seeks  to  substitute  man's  power  and 
visible  glory  and  personal  distinction  and  aggrandize- 
ment for  the  power  of  faith  and  prayer  and  the  simple 
preaching  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  It  matters  not  that 
this  spirit  veils  under  spiritual  authority  and  nominally 
recognizes  Jesus ;  for  in  its  essence  it  is  a  world-power 
which  Jesus  refused  to  take  ;  it  is  the  pride  and  glory 
of  this  world  baptized  wnth  the  name  of  Christianity. 
This  has  ever  been,  since  Christ  essablished  his  king- 
dom on  earth,  the  grand  artiiice  of  the  Devil  to 
ruin  it.  Kings,  for  doing  its  behests  in  the  slaughter 
of  millions  of  innocent  people,  have  been  styled  by  it 
"  defenders  of  the  faith,"  "  most  Christian  majesties." 
Good  men  have  been  seduced  by  the  glare  of  prido  of 
a  state  establishment  to  yield  to  its  influence.  The 
visible  ever  has  a  tremendous  power  over  men.  And 
Satan,  when  he  tempted  Christ,  raised  that  power 
to  its  loftiest  altitude,  infused  into  it  the  condensed 
force  of  which  it  was  susceptible,  and  wielded  it  with 
all  his  Satanic  art  to  win  him  over  to  his  side.  Yea  ! 
had  not  prophecy  declared  that  all  kings  should  fall 
down  before  him,  and  all  peoples  should  serve  him? 
And  was  he  not,  in  accepting  this  gift,  actually  ful- 
filling prophecy,  and  securing  the  very  position  of 
power  long  promised  to  him  of  right  ?  I^ow,  you  are 
to  bear  in  mind  that  Jesus  was  left  in  his  naked  hu- 
manity— the  same  humanity  which  you  and  I  possess, 
yet  without  sin — to  grapple  with  this  temptation  as 
Adam  grappled  with  and  fell  before  the  first,  lie  was 
susceptible  to  just  such  temptations  as  have  laid  low 
the  whole  race.  He  was  enduring  in  his  person  the 
concentrated  force  of  all  the  powers  of  evil  that  assail 
our  entire  humanity.     If  you  say  that  Christ  was  aim- 


228  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

ing  at  spiritual  objects,  and  could  not  be  tempted  by 
the  attractions  of  this  world-power,  you  virtually  deny 
his  humanity.  For  in  the  long  list  of  souls  you  can 
not  find  one,  not  one,  insensible  to  such  appeals,  nay, 
not  one  who  has  not  fallen  before  a  power  of  tempta- 
tion no  more  to  be  compared  with  this  than  the  tread 
of  an  insect  with  the  crushing  force  of  an  elephant. 

2.  This  temptation  involved  an  appeal  to  the  fears 
of  Christ,  and  to  his  feelings  of  kindness  to  his  own 
disciples.  Christ  could  not  fail  to  be  moved  by  the 
sufferings  which  in  himself  and  afterward  in  the  per- 
sons of  his  disci[)les  were  to  be  endured.  His  kingdom 
was  to  advance  against  the  depravity  of  the  human 
heart  and  with  Satan  in  opposition,  against  all  the  art 
and  malice  by  which  that  depravity  would  be  excited, 
aggravated,  and  directed.  Jesus  himself  had  an  imme- 
diate future  of  darkness  and  suffering  before  liim.  At 
each  step  of  his  progress,  he  was  to  be  met  by  opposition. 
His  sensitive  soul  was  to  be  harassed  and  troubled  by 
the  outbreaking  depravities  of  men  ;  while  at  the  close 
of  his  mortal  life,  a  death  the  most  horrible,  ever  stood 
clearly  defined  awaiting  his  coming.  His  church,  his 
people  were  to  pass  through  all  forms  of  trouble.  He 
declares  that  his  advent  was  like  the  sending  forth  of 
a  flaming  sword  among  men.  Families  would  be 
divided ;  there  would  be  strifes  and  conflicts  among 
states  and  nations  around  his  cross.  Soon  the  predic- 
tion began  to  be  fulfilled.  In  Judea,  in  Greece,  in 
Rome,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  true  piety  has  been 
met  by  princes  and  people  with  a  malignity  of  oppo- 
sition and  a  cruelty  of  persecution  unknown  to  Pa- 
ganism itself.  All  forms  of  torture,  all  kinds  of  sufr 
feriug  have  been  meted  out  to  men  and  women  inno- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST  229 

cent  of  crime,  guilty  of  nothing  but  believing  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Millions  have  suffered  death, 
millions  have  been  disfranchised,  despoiled  of  prop- 
erty, their  name  made  a  hissing  and  a  by-word,  for 
confessing  Jesus  to  be  their  Redeemer.  So  steady,  so 
varied,  so  remorseless,  so  artful  and  systematic  has 
been  this  opposition,  that  every  man  at  once  feels  the 
truth  of  the  apostle's  words — we  fight  not  against  flesh 
and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places.  There  is 
a  Satanic  power  of  stimulation  and  direction  that  has 
been  at  work  to  corrupt  the  church  itself  and  turn  it 
into  an  engine  of  oppression  against  the  true  disciples 
of  Jesus ;  there  is  a  mind  at  work  with  peculiar  force, 
rousing  the  malignant  opposition  of  the  world  against 
the  doctrines  and  the  person  of  Jesus.  Looking  down 
the  ages,  Christ  distinct!}-  foresees  these  sad  pages  of 
the  history  of  his  church  written  in  the  tears  and  blood 
of  his  own  people.  He  heard  even  there  the  souls 
of  martyrs  crying  from  under  the  altar,  How  long,  O 
Lord  !  A  vision  such  as  this,  of  scenes  the  most  hor- 
rible, in  the  long  travail  of  all  the  centuries  never  be- 
fore presented  itself  in  one  lurid  painting,  all  alive 
with  suffering,  to  the  mind  of  man.  Jesus  alone  takes 
it  all  in  at  a  glance  ;  the  divine  vision  passes  before 
him  ;  he  sees,  he  knows,  he  feels  it  through  and  through 
his  sensitive  soul.  And  now  the  tempter  comes  to 
blot  out  that  vision,  to  join  forces  with  him,  to  act  as 
his  friend  rather  than  his  enem}'  ;  to  abate  if  not 
wholly  remove  all  this  outward  opposition  ;  to  make 
this  force  of  evil  decent  and  submissive  ;  to  save  the 
church  from  corruption;  to  quench  the  fires  of  martyr- 
dom ;    to  oi)en  the  dungeon    and  l)roak    the  rack  in 


230  SERMONS   ON    THE 

pieces,  and  convert  the  world-power  into  a  friendly 
assistant ;  malignity  into  friendship  ;  scoffs  into  kisses  ; 
war  into  peace;  the  slow,  lingering,  painful  advance 
of  his  kingdom  into  a  triumphal  procession.  Ah  !  tell 
nie  not  there  ever  has  existed  a  soul  sensitive  to  its  own 
suffering,  more  sensitive  to  the  sufferings  of  those  it 
loves,  that  would  not  be  affected  by  such  a  change  as 
this!  The  father  has  said.  Slay  me,  but  save  the 
mother  and  children  !  Filial  love  has  laid  itself  on 
the  altar  for  parents !  And  is  not  Jesus  moved  by 
such  a  future  for  his  own  people,  and  could  there  be 
a  temptation  of  mightier  power  addressed  to  his  pure 
soul,  awake  to  all  the  horrors  impending  over  his  peo- 
ple, than  this  which  promised  them  a  peaceful  life,  and 
himself  a  peaceful  Held  on  which  to  advance  in  his 
conquests  over  the  hearts  of  men  ?  In  the  prepara- 
tions and  conditions  favorable  to  the  advance  of  the 
gospel  in  the  hearts  of  men,  can  you  conceive  of  any- 
thing more  desirable  than  the  abatement  and  total 
withdrawal  of  the  opposition  of  that  gigantic  mind 
and  his  arraj^  of  subalterns,  who  have  excited  and 
organized  the  depravities  of  mind  into  systematic 
effort  against  the  kingdom  of  Jesus ;  who  have  cor- 
rupted the  original  religion  of  the  world  into  a  minis- 
tration of  sensuality  and  sin  ;  who  have  tired  the  hearts 
of  rulers  with  the  spirit  of  persecution  ;  who  have 
brought  about  the  subjection  of  the  outward  church 
to  the  state  and  introduced  into  it  the  corrupt  hierar- 
chies and  pomp  and  glory  of  a  world-power,  and  turned 
it  into  an  engine  for  the  destruction  of  all  true  Chris- 
tian liberty  and  simple  piety,  and  who,  it  is  declared, 
would,  did  God  permit  it,  deceive  with  their  infernal 
plausil)ilitics  the  very  elect  themselves?      Is    it    not 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  231 

given  in  })ropliecy  that  when  Jesus  sliiill  have  entered 
upon  his  highest  triumph  in  this  world,  and  the  time 
shall  come  when  the  lion  and  the  lamh  shall  lie  down 
together,  and  the  true  people  of  God  shall  be  in  the 
vast  majority,  and  the  scepters  of  kings  shall  all  be 
lowered  to  the  cross,  and  peace,  and  intelligence,  and 
piety,  shall  till  the  world  with  the  fragrance  of  Eden, 
tliat  for  a  decade  of  centuries  this  power  of  darkness 
shall  be  chained  and  his  minions  confined  in  their  ap- 
propriate prison,  and  Christ  shall  reign  over  him  and 
all  the  powers  of  evil  ?  And  is  it  possible  to  concen- 
trate in  one  temptation  motives  more  affecting,  con- 
siderations of  vaster  moment  this  side  the  throne  of 
God,  than  Satan  himself  here  presents  to  the  heart  of 
Jesus? 

For  be  it  remembered  that,  in  the  terms  of  this  con- 
tract, Satan  is  not  to  interfere  with  or  prejudice  the 
grand  object  of  Jesus,  the  salvation  of  men,  and  the 
illustration  of  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  gospel  f  he  is 
to  withdraw  his  opposition  and  unite  his  forces  with 
those  of  the  Savior  to  clear  the  field  of  those  malignant 
powers  which  have  ever  been  at  work  to  destroy  the 
souls  of  men.  All  fair  enough  this  for  the  devil  ;  all 
plausible  enough ;  so  plausible  that  the  same  tempta- 
tion presented  in  inferior  forms  has  availed  to  debauch 
the  loyalty  of  unnumbered  millions. 

It  has  been  said,  indeed,  that  Satan  promised  to  give 
what  he  did  not  possess.  In  the  sense  of  right  this  is 
true,  but  as  a  fact  it  is  not  true.  Usurpation  is  a 
crime,  but  it  may  be  a  fact.  Louis  Napoleon  may  be 
a  usurper  and  a  perjurer,  but  he  is  emperor  and  wields 
the  power  of  France  for  all  that.  The  devil  lied  when 
he  implied  that  God  had  committed  to  him  this  world 


232  SERMONS    ON    THE 

as  its  ruler.  In  that  infinite  wisdom  which  one  day 
will  vindicate  itself,  he  had  been  permitted  to  usurp 
this  power,  just  as  wicked  men  are  allowed  to  live  and 
perpetrate  crimes  that  shock  humanity ;  but  he  really 
possessed  it  for  the  time.  The  fact  is  written  all  over 
the  world's  history  ;  the  world-power  has  been  largely 
Satanic,  and  is  to  this  day.  The  Scriptures  distinctly 
recognize  it ;  Jesus  himself  and  his  apostles  every- 
where recognize  it,  and  recognize  it  as  a  power  of  op- 
position to  his  truth — a  power  to  be  dethroned  and 
destroyed  as  the  Gospel  advances  to  its  final  triumph. 
And  when  Satan  proposed  to  abandon  his  opposition 
and  use  his  power  in  favor  of  Christ,  he  did  what  he 
was  apparently  able  to  do.  Whether  he  really  meant 
to  do  it,  is  another  question. 

We  must  look  now  at  the  condition  of  this  extraor- 
dinary proposition.  And  here  we  shall  see  the  Satanic 
spirit  in  its  consummate  flower — "If  thou  therefore 
wilt  worship  me,  all  shall  be  thine."  This  involves 
three  things.  (1.)  The  term  translated  is  sometimes 
used  to  express  the  homage  of  an  inferior  to  a  supe- 
rior. Satan  would  have  Jesus  acknowledge  his  infe- 
riority. This  is  its  lowest  sense.  (2.)  In  the  circum- 
stances it  involved  the  recognition  of  the  legitimacy 
of  Satan's  claims  to  the  possession  of  the  world.  Jesus 
must  do  fealty  to  him  as  the  original  sovereign,  and 
hold  the  world  as  his  gift.  Satan  is  the  real  prince, 
and  Christ  his  dependent.  (3.)  It  involved  something 
more  than  even  these  things.  Tlie  term  worship  is 
used  in  its  highest  sense  as  a  recognition  of  the  divine. 
F^r  Jesus  to  w^orship  Satan  was  to  give  divine  hom- 
age. This  is  clearly  implied  in  the  Savior's  answer. 
lie  sees  at  once  the  enormous  pride,  pretension,  and 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST,  233 

wickedness  of  the  tempter.  He  sees  through  all  his 
plausibilities  and  his  robes  of  light  the  hideous  form 
of  tlie  malignant  chief  of  the  fallen  angels.  Up  to 
that  moment  he  may  not  have  been  full}'  assured  who 
this  person  thus  engaged  might  be ;  but  the  proposi- 
tion to  worship  him  tears  the  veil  from  the  face  of  the 
deceiver.  The  thought  is  horrible ;  the  wretch  who 
makes  it,  loathsome.  At  once,  in  the  majesty  of  a 
pure  soul,  of  the  Son  of  God,  with  divine  authority, 
he  breaks  forth  upon  him:  "Get  thee  behind,  Satan! 
it  is  written, -Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  Our  translation  falls 
short  of  the  condensed  energy  of  the  original  '■'■"Y-ayB^ 
o-t(Tio  fw'j,  Maraud."  Avaunt,  Satan  !  Away  wnth  you  ! 
Out  of  ray  sight,  opposer  of  God  and  man !  God,  thy 
God,  is  the  only  object  of  true  worship.  Thou  art  a 
vile  impostor,  a  malignant  monster.  Away  from  me! 
Your  words  are  deceptive ;  your  breath  pollution. 
Get  you  gone  to  the  regions  of  darkness  where  j'ou 
belong.  Jesus  has  met  and  baffled  the  mightiest 
powers  of  darkness.  Jesus,  erect  in  the  consciousness 
of  love  and  loyalty  to  God  in  his  humanity,  repels  the 
highest  temptations  that  can  ever  assail  the  soul.  The 
taint,  the  shadow^  of  sin  rests  not  upon  his  heart.  He 
comes  forth  from  his  great  conflict  pure  as  love  and 
strong  as  faith.  Henceforth,  with  intense  malignancy, 
the  baffled  tempter,  conscious  of  defeat  and  foreseeing 
that  his  time  is  short,  will  rage  and  plot  and  stir  up 
the  world-power,  which  Christ  refused  at  his  hands, 
to  retard  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  He  will  enter 
the  councils  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  excite 
and  spur  them  on  to  nail  him  to  the  cross.  He  will 
20 


234  SERMONS   ON    THE 

enter  the  hearts  of  emperors  and  kings  to  thunder 
against  the  coming  kingdom.  He  will  seduce  the 
Christian  church  into  heathenish  rites  and  worklly 
pomps  to  corrupt  its  life.  He  will  rear  inquisitions  to 
rack  and  burn  simple  believers.  He  will  put  new  en- 
ergy into  his  legions  everywhere,  by  all  means,  to 
oppose  this  Jesus  of  ITazareth.  But  he  is  a  defeated 
usurper.  And  he  who  has  risen  victorious  over  his 
temptations  will  conquer  and  advance  until  the  full 
time  appointed  of  God  has  come,  when  he  shall  be 
chained  forever  in  the  hell  he  has  deserved. 

And  now,  after  the  conflict  and  victory,  comes  rest. 
Other  beings  had  watched  this  scene  with  intense  in- 
terest; for  Matthew  tells  that  as  the  devil  retires,  an- 
gels ministered  to  him.  They  supplied  the  wants  of 
his  body;  they  communed  with  his  tried  spirit.  They 
breathed  round*  him  heavenly  peace  and  joy,  and  from 
this  victory  they  gathered  the  foretokens  of  a  greater 
victor}^  when  on  the  cross  expiring  he  should  cry, 
"It  is  finished  !"  Here  behold  the  issue  of  resistance 
to  evil ;  here  see  how  he  who  gives  all  to  God  gains 
all;  how  he  who  braves  all  for  this,  his  Master's 
favor,  shall  win  for  his  soul  in  the  hour  of  trouble  the 
ministrations  of  angels  and  the  eternal  favor  of  his 
Lord. 

And  now  let  us  look  at  some  of  the  points  which 
this  part  of  the  life  of  Christ  illustrates. 

1.  The  world-power  is  the  strongest  of  all  the  temp- 
tations which  can  assail  the  heart  of  man.  Satan  re- 
serves it  for  his  final  efibrt,  because  he  knew  how  ir- 
resistible it  had  been  to  man  in  every  age ;  for  this 
power  is  not  one,  but  many.  He  who  has  it,  has  all 
other  worldly  things  at  his  command.     To  be  able  to 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  235 


say  to  tliis  man  go  and  lie  goeth,  and  to  tliat  man 
come  and  he  cometh — to  wield  consciously  a  power 
that  governs  and  controls  others — has  to  most  minds 
a  wonderful  fascination.  But  when  to  this  is 
added  personal  security,  honor,  and  glory;  when  to 
these  are  added  the  ability  to  gratify  every  taste 
and  lust,  then  the  fascination,  is  to  any  man  un- 
aided by  the  spirit  of  God,  irresistible.  The  influ- 
ence of  this  power  to  break  down  virtuous  prin- 
ciples is  among  the  saddest  and  most  marked 
triumphs  of  Satanic  cunning.  As  a  world-power  it  is 
not  in  harmony  with  Christ.  Ambition  for  self- 
aggrandizement  is  its  real  principle;  the  methods 
which  are  employed  to  win  and  maintain  and  use  it 
harmonize  with  its  corrupt  source.  I  say  not  that  a 
good  man  may  not  desire  and  use  power  for  noble  ob- 
jects ;  but  it  is  a  fact  that  this  world-power  has  ever 
been  so  thoroughly  constituted  of  impure  elements, 
and  springs  usually  from  such  evil  sources,  and  finds 
itself  compelled  so  often  to  accommodate  itself  to  the 
corrupt  i)assions  and  maxims  of  those  with  whom  it 
has  to  do,  that  it  has  become  practically  a  possession 
of  the  devil.  He  did  not  lie  when  he  asserted  his 
power  over  these  governments  and  kingdoms.  To 
him  more  than  to  any  other  power  have  their  scepters 
been  lowered  ;  his  spirit  has  been  worshiped  here, 
and  his  maxims  followed  with  more  intense  enthusiasm 
than  anywhere  else.  He  has  been  the  great  contract- 
ing party  on  one  side,  and  kings  and  princes  and 
courtiers  and  legislators  on  the  other.  He  asks  for 
worship;  they  ask  for  power.  Courts  have  ever  been 
unfavorable  to  piety  ;  men  in  power,  or  men  seeking 
for  power,  have  rarely  ever  hesitated  to  crucify  Christ 


236  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

and  e'nthroDe  Satan,  l^ow  and  then  one  appears  of 
this  sort,  anomalous,  strange,  a  wonder  among  men. 
In  our  own  land,  where  power  is  given  but  for  short 
periods,  and  our  rulers  pass  right  up  to  its  possession 
from  the  bosom  of  the  people,  it  would  seem  as  if  it 
would  be  stripped  of  half  its  corrupting  influence.  Yet 
let  any  one  mingle  with  our  legislators  at  Albany  or 
Washington  ;  let  him  watch  the  intrigues,  the  rival- 
ries, the  jealonsies,  the  influences  at  work  in  molding 
legislation  ;  then  let  hiin  uncover  the  secret  lives  of 
those  who  pass  at  home  for  honest  and  virtuous  people, 
and  he  will  be  convinced  that  even  here  the  trail  of  the 
serpent  is  seen  in  the  capitol,  and  the  world-power, 
true  to  its  instincts,  has  no  surer  ally  than  the  prince 
of  darkness.  In  courts  or  congress,  in  emperors' 
palaces  or  papal  vaticans,  everywhere  this  dark  spirit 
is  felt  to  be  present,  and  his  secret  snggestion  is  ever 
this  or  that  will  I  give  thee,  only  worship  me.  The 
history,  the  brief  history,  of  this  republic  of  ours  is 
strewn  all  over  with  the  wrecks  of  moral  character — 
wrecks  not  merely  of  the  little  and  the  weak,  but  of 
the  stalwart,  the  great,  the  once  noble,  the  eloquent, 
the  clear-minded,  fitted  by  all  natural  gifts  and  train- 
ing and  discipline  and  high  attainments  to  lead  this 
people  up  to  the  heights  of  national  prosperity  and  re- 
nown. Such  is  that  power  of  the  world  which  Jesus 
resisted  and  trode  beneath  his  feet. 

2.  This  scene  teaches  Christ's  kingdom  comes  not 
by  alliance  Avith  the  world — that  it  is  not  identical  with 
its  form  or  method  or  spirit,  Jesus  affirmed  this  prin- 
ciple when  he  refused  the  Jewish  crown,  and  declared, 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  The  world- 
power  is  visible  ;    its  glory  is  in   outward  show,  in 


LIFE    OF   CHEIST.  237 

pageantry,  in  dress,  in  wealth,  in  stately  palaces,  in 
armies  and  retinues,  in  feasts  and  earthly  indulgence. 
But  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  visible,  save  in  the  pure 
excellencies  it  creates.  It  is  not  in  a  palace  or  a  hovel ; 
it  asks  for  no  army,  with  its  sword  of  steel.  It  moves 
forward  l)y  no  earthly  power.  Christ's  kingdom  was 
in  the  hearts  of  his  apostles  and  early  disciples.  It  is 
in  the  heart  of  that  man,  be  he  poor  or  rich,  who  ga- 
thers his  household  about  him  daily  to  read  liis  word 
lovingh%  and  pours  his  soul  out  in  grateful,  trustful, 
penitent  prayer.  It  is  in  the  heart  of  that  young  man 
who,  conscious  of  his  sinfulness,  casts  himself  on 
God's  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  seeks  from  hence- 
forth to  do  his  holy  will  in  all  his  life.  It  is  every- 
where, in  every  heart  where  there  is  love  and  faith  and 
obedience.  His  kingdom  cometh  not  with  observation, 
as  does  the  world-power.  No  trumpet's  blare  heralds 
it.  No  earthquake,  no  tempest's  shock  attends  it.  It 
is  in  the  still,  small  voice  that  speaks  to  the  soul  ;  it  is 
in  the  sweet  promise  tliat  tills  the  mourner's  heart  with 
submission  and  holy  joy  ;  it  is  in  the  solemn  appeal 
that  thrills  the  spirit  and  nerves  it  for  self-denial  and 
prayerful  effort,  go  preach  my  gospel  to  every  creature ; 
it  is  that  home  where  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Re- 
deemer ministers  heavenly  consolation  to  the  dying; 
it  is  in  the  heart  of  the  young  soldier  who  exclaims  as 
he  is  departing,  Jesus  is  mine,  I  am  going  home  ;  it  is 
in  the  meeting  for  pra3'er,  when  Christ  is  present  and 
his  spirit  moves  upon  the  heart,  and  he  reveals  him- 
self a  forgiving,  loving,  prayer-answering  Jxedeemer. 
Oh!  not  in  splendid  cathedrals  hath  Christ  his  home. 
Oh  !  not  by  gorgeous  rites  and  costly  offerings  is  he 
attracted.     His   home,  his  kingdom,  is  in   the  living 


238  SERMONS   ON    THE 

temple  of  the  heart  renewed  by  his  spirit  and  purged 
by  his  blood  from  the  pollution  of  sin,  and  made  meet 
in  offered  love  and  faith  for  his  indwelling. 

3.  Jesus,  in  resisting  this  and  the  former  world-wide 
temptations,  became  the  source  of  power  to  all  who  will 
believe  on  him.  His  victory  is  not  for  himself  alone. 
These  temptations,  this  tempter,  meet  us  all.  The 
Christian  life  is  conflict.  Fight  the  good  light  of  faith, 
is  our  motto  ;  In  Christ  we  conquer,  our  battle  cry. 
Our  nature  defiled  by  sin,  our  passions  and  lusts  ex- 
aggerated by  indulgence,  the  power  of  the  visible 
world-power  and  its  fascinations  enhanced  by  past 
subjection  to  it,  we  are  ever  in  the  cgndition  of  Peter 
venturing  to  walk  upon  the  water,  and  must,  like  him, 
ever  cry,  Lord  save,  or  I  perish.  He  who  trode  the 
water  as  the  land  has  an  arm  mighty  to  save.  ISTot 
for  himself  alone  did  he  conquer;  it  was  for  you,  for 
me  ;  in  our  weakness  he  came  forth  victorious.  You 
feel  the  power  of  some  secret  lust,  you  fear  the  power 
of  some  sinful  habit,  the  love  of  the  world,  ambitious 
desires  for  its  pride  and  pomp  of  power  are  strong 
in  you,  perhaps  the  intoxicating  cup  has  poured  its 
venom  through  your  veins,  or  the  world's  amusements 
wreathe  their  gilded  chains  around  you,  and  how  can 
you  escape  ;  oh,  how  can  you  be  and  live  the  Christian? 
How  can  you  resist  these  temptations  and  consecrate 
yourself  to  the  heavenly  service  and  self-denial  of 
Christ's  kingdom  ?  Look  up,  oh  soul !  See  thou  one 
mighty  to  save !  One  who  has  rescued  men  from 
debauchery  and  crime  of  every  dye,  and  carried  them 
in  his  arms,  and  given  them  strength  for  their  day  ; 
yea,  even  in  martyrs'  flres  has  made  them  sing  the 
song  of  heaven  !     When  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  en- 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  239 

tered  the  senate  chamber,  Judge  Wayne  said  he  came 
with  a  reputation  for  sincere  piety ;  but,  said  he,  we 
thought  we  could  langh  that  out  of  him.  The  force 
of  ridicule  is  great ;  the  force  of  the  world-power  there 
greater  still.  Did  he  succumb,  did  he  cease  to  be  the 
Christian  because  he  was  a  senator  ?  No  !  said  the 
judge;  his  quiet  Christian  manhood  disarmed;  we 
could  not  touch  him.  Every  man  respected  him. 
Political  opponents  made  him  the  arbitrator  of  their 
difficulties.  His  Christian  integrity,  his  Christ-like 
spirit  inspired  even  the  utterly  ungodly  with  profound 
esteem.  Why  was  it?  He  looked  to  Jesus;  he 
started  the  congressional  prayer  meeting ;  he  led  not 
a  few  of  those  ambitious  men  to  know  Jesus.  He 
worked  for  his  master  while  he  loved  and  trusted  him. 
Unharmed,  without  the  smell  of  fire,  he  passed  the 
fiery  ordeal,  for  one  like  the  Son  of  Man  was  by  his 
side.  And  you  too,  weak  and  sinful,  in  conflict  with 
temptation,  you  too,  may  have  this  Christ  to  be  your 
strength. 


240  SERMONS   ON    THE 


XIV. 


HIS   PLAN. 


"  TJiiiik  not  that  I  am.  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the 
prophets ;  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill.  For 
verdy  I  say  unto  you,  TUl  heaven  and  earth  jyuss,  one  jot 
or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  ivise  jyass  from  the  law,  till  all  be 
fulfilled:'— Matthew  v,  17,  18. 

This  passage  settles  at  once,  and  forever,  with  all 
who  receive  the  words  of  Christ  as  divine  truth,  the 
fact  that  he  had  a  plan  of  life,  thoroughly  understood, 
from  the  commencement  of  his  ministry.  These  are 
not  the  words  of  one  seeking  after  truth,  or  feeling  his 
way  through  the  world,  and  accommodating  his  con- 
duct to  varying  circumstances.  They  are  the  lofty 
and  confident  assertions  of  a  mind  that  surveyed  alike 
the  past,  the  present,  and  tlie  future ;  that  knew  the 
precise  point  at  which  he  stood — the  precise  relation 
he  sustained  to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  special 
work,  in  all  its  parts,  which  he  was  to  perform.  The 
supposition  that  Christ  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  spirit 
of  his  age,  as  Confucius  and  Homer  were  of  theirs ; 
that  he  was  the  creation -of  circumstances,  and  formed 
his  plans  as  did  Alexander  or  Buddha,  is  not  only  false 
to  his  own  declarations,  but  makes  his  life  a  sublime 
enigma,  infinitely  less  susceptible  of  faith  than  the 
plain  and  consistent  historic  record.  The  greatest 
and  the  wisest  men  who   have   lived  on   earth    and 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  241 


wrought  groat  reformations,  or  established  new  sys- 
tems of  religion,  or  founded  great  kingdoms,  have 
never  realized  at  the  outset  the  work  before  them,  or 
formed  a  well-digested  plan  to  which  they  adhered 
with  inflexible  tenacity  until  it  was  executed.  An 
idea  of  some  kind  they  have  had,  but  it  was  an  idea 
looming  up  in  fog,  ill  defined,  and  not  embodied  in 
the  means  by  which  it  would  ultimately  become  a  fact. 
The  moment  they  attempt  to  attain  their  object,  then 
the  providence  of  God  comes  in,  and,  working  above 
them,  alters,  modifies,  or  changes  entirely  their  pre- 
conceived notions  of  means  and  ends.  Their  plans 
change  to  suit  circumstances  over  which  they  have  no 
control,  and  which  they  could  not  foresee.  In  one  di- 
rection, and  that  the  very  direction  in  which  they  had 
planned  to  move,  obstacles  insurmountable  by  all  their 
genius  suddenly  spring  up,  while  in  another  direction, 
never  contemplated  by  them,  a  wide  path  is  opened, 
facilities  for  progre^^s  come  to  their  assistance,  and  they 
have  but  to  go  forward  to  insure  success.  Thus  divine 
Providence  perpetually  baffles  the  cherished  plan,  and 
forces  them  into  new  lines  of  action.  AVhen  their 
work  is  done,  then  we  often  attribute  to  them  a  wis- 
dom and  a  foresight  which  they  never  possessed  ;  we 
give  to  them  the  credit  which  belongs  alone  to  the 
mind  and  power  of  Him  in  whose  hands  they  were 
mere  agents,  blind  and  foolish  in  respect  to  the  real 
work  performed.  Napoleon  is  the  most  remarkable 
intellect  of  the  past  or  present.  Intellectual  power 
reached  a  height  in  him  never  surpassed.  It  was  the 
force  of  abstract  reasoning  combined  with  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  relation  of  means  to  ends,  and  a  penc- 
il 


242  SERMONS   ON    THE 

trating  insight  into  the  future,  and  a  prodigious  en- 
ergy of  will,  and  a  magnetic  influence  over  men,  that 
fitted  him  to  plan  and  execute  with  the  highest  proh- 
abilit}^  of  success.  Yet  how  did  his  magniiicent  ideals 
vanish  !  How  did  his  wisest  plan  issue  in  failure  ! 
How  did  the  star  of  his  destiny — in  recognizing  which 
he  blindly  recognized  the  power  of  a  providence  above, 
he  could  neither  foresee  nor  control — set  in  cloud  and 
storm  !  "When  Luther  nailed  his  theses  to  the  church- 
door  in  Wittenberg,  did  he  foresee  the  mighty  re- 
formation that  act  inaugurated?  When  Calvin  was 
passing  through  Geneva,  intending  to  hide  him- 
self where  he  could  pursue  his  studies  at  leisure  and 
mature  his  system  of  theology,  Farel  and  Viret  arrested 
him,  kept  him  there,  changed  his  plans  for  the  future; 
and  thus,  without  designing  it,  he  became  the  restorer 
of  the  church  in  its  primitive  and  apostolic  simplicity, 
and  organized  the  forces  that  were  to  save  the  world. 
When  Wesley  began  his  career  he  had  no  thought  of 
establishing  a  church  outside  of  the  establishment  of 
England;  God  subverted  his  plans  and  made  him  the 
organizer  of  a  new  monument  to  Christ,  whose  pro- 
gress and  results  he  never  foresaw.  Thus  in  all  the 
great  leaders  of  the  world  you  see  mere  working  and 
planning,  Avith  little  foresight,  with  but  faint  concep- 
tions of  their  true  relations  to  the  past  or  the  future, 
altering,  amending,  or  wholly  changing  their  plans  to 
meef  and  accommodate  the  providential  circumstances 
which  they  could  not  anticipate.  This  is  the  uniform 
course  of  all  these  human  leaders,  no  matter  how  vast 
their  learning,  how  searching  their  intuitions,  how 
great  their  force  in  action. 

But  when  you  turn  to  Jesus  the  comparison  brings 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  243 

out  a  difference  ubsolutely  astounding.  In  every 
aspect  in  wliicli  lie  is  viewed,  in  the  object,  in  the 
plan,  in  the  means,  and  in  the  execution,  the  compar- 
ison ceases,  and  the  difi^'ercnce  rises  into  a  most  start- 
ling contrast.  At  a  single  step  we  ascend  from  the 
natura  Ito  the  supernatural — from  the  human  to  the 
divine.  The  more  profound  and  varied  our  investiga- 
tions the  grander  and  more  divine  does  Jesus  appear, 
until,  like  Thomas,  touching  his  pierced  body  after 
the  resurrection,  we  exclaim,  My  Lord  and  my  God ! 
My  object,  to-night,  is  to  illustrate  this  thought.  I 
feel,  however,  that  in  the  brief  limits  of  a  discourse  it 
is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  a  subject  so  vast  and 
profound.  I  can  but  indicate  a  few  of  the  main  points 
in  this  discussion,  trusting  that  they  may  assist  your 
personal  investigations  into  this  wonderful  life. 

I  will  now  state,  in  a  few  words,  the  position  which 
Jesus  occupies,  and  which  exalts  him  and  his  plans 
infinitely  above  all  prophets,  apostles,  reformers,  or 
leaders  of  any  kind  that  have  ever  lived  on  earth.  He 
assumes  that  he  is  essentially,  centrally,  and  vitally 
related  to  the  whole  church  in  the  past  and  in  the 
future.  He  assumes  that  all  the  arrangements  of 
God  for  the  establishment  and  preservation  of  true 
religion  and  for  the  salvation  of  men,  from  the 
fall  to  that  hour,  had  a  direct  reference  to  him  as 
the  being  whose  appearance  they  anticipate,  and  in 
whom  they  were  all  fulfilled  and  completed.  He 
assumes  that  the  vital  force  of  redemption  was  all 
derived,  during  those  long  ages,  in  anticipation, 
from  his  life  and  death.  He  assumes  that  the  Church 
of  God  in  the  future  derives  its  character  and  its 
saving  power  wholly  from  him.     lie  stands  before  us 


244  SERMONS   ON    THE 

with  a  divine  comprehension  of  all  the  past,  as  the  end 
of  the  law,  its  sublime  fulfillment  for  righteousness. 
He  stands  before  u«  with  an  equally  divine  compre- 
hension of  all  the  future,  as  the  source  of  all  reli- 
gious life  and  salvation  to  the  church  in  all  time  to 
come.  All  this  is  involved  in  the  text.  This  he  de- 
clared in  a  great  variety  of  forms ;  this  he  taught  his 
disciples  and  inspired  them  to  unfold  ;  this  harmonizes 
alike  his  teachings  and  his  life  ;  this  is  justilied  by  the 
history  of  the  old  dispensation,  which  he  closed,  and 
the  history  of  the  law,  which  he  opened. 

Let  us  look,  now,  more  in  detail  at  this  subject,  and 
see  how  the  plan  of  Jesus  rises  right  out  of  this  dou- 
ble and  vital  relationship  to  the  church  in  the  past 
and  the  future.  First,  his  relation  to  the  past.  "  The 
law  and  the  prophets  "  stand  for  the  Old  Testament 
dispensation.  They  include  the  history  of  the  church 
from  its  origin;  the  revelations  of  God;  the  means 
appointed  for  producing  and  preserving  religious  faith, 
and  all  the  preparations  in  the  line  of  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple for  one  grand  event.  At  the  outset  our  first  pa- 
rents are  placed  under  the  divine  law  in  its  simplest 
form.  They  disobe}^  this  law  and  incur  its  penalty. 
Then  commences  a  singular  and  wonderful  history. 
They  are  spared  and  permitted  to  live  under  a  proba- 
tion of  mercy.  But  this  exercise  of  mercy  is  based 
upon  a  remarkable  fact — the  fact  that  one  should 
arise,  who,  in  his  own  person,  should  vindicate  the 
dishonored  authority  and  law  of  God.  Couched  under 
the  figurative  language  of  "  the  seed  of  the  woman 
that  is  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head,"  lies  that  great 
doctrine  of  a  Redeemer,  who  in  our  stead  is  to  die 
and  bear  our  sins.     Now,  from  this  point  we  have  two 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  245 

great  agencies  designed  to  keep  up  and  impress  this 
idea  of  a  Redeemer  upon  the  minds  of  men  and  pre- 
pare the  way  for  its  realization,  and  then,  after  a  time, 
a  third  is  added  to  these.  One  of  these  is  the  prophet 
preacher,  raised  up  at  intervals  and  inspired  by  God 
himself — Adam,  Enoch,  ISToah,  the  great  preacher  of 
righteousness,  Abraham,  and  all  the  long  line,  cul- 
minating in  John  the  Baptist.  These  held  up  the 
idea  of  true  religion,  of  faith  in  God  and  the  prom- 
ises, of  a  Kodeemer-Mossiah  in  whom  all  the  nations 
arc  to  be  blessed.  The  other  is  the  institution  of 
blood}'  sacrifices.  These  were  given  to  the  world  in 
direct  connection  with  the  promised  Messiah.  These 
held  forth  the  idea  that  without  the  shedding  of 
blood  there  is  no  remission.  These  impressed  upon 
all  men  the  connection  between  a  sacrilicial  death  and 
the  atonement  for  sin.  These  evinced  that  something 
more  than  penitence  was  necessary  to  justify  God  in 
forgiving  sinners.  These  were  everywhere  the  types 
of,  and  the  propai'ation  in  the  minds  of  men,  for  the 
atonement  on  the  cross. 

Then,  after  the  flood,  God  separated  the  family  of 
Abraham  to  himself,  declaring  to  him  expressly  that 
in  one  of  his  descendants  all  the  nations  were  to  be 
blessed,  and  that  he  chose  him  and  his  posterity  for 
the  purpose  of  preserving  his  worship  until  that  time 
should  come;  and  when  this  family  assumed  the  pro- 
portions of  a  nation  ho  gave  them  national  laws,  a 
national  priesthood,  and  a  separate  country,  expressly 
to  isolate  them  from  other  nations  and  prepare  the 
way  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 

Then  Jesus  appears.  lie  takes  into  his  mind  this 
whole  vast  system,  its  prophetic  teachings,  it  sacrilicial 


246  SERMONS   ON    THE 

types,  its  national  institutes.  His  mind  iiashes  lio^lit 
upon  every  part  of  it.  The  glosses,  the  traditions,  the 
false,  narrow,  crude  interpretations  that  have  distorted 
and  obscured  it  vanish  before  the  suldime  simplicity  of 
his  annunciations.  Its  grand  idea  with  all  the  related 
ideas  instantly  reveal  themselves.  Its  mysteries,  its  ob- 
scurities, its  indications,  its  faint  outlines,  its  sacred 
words  are  clear  and  full,  as  the  whole  tracing  and  life 
of  the  world  are  distinct  and  visible  wlien  the  sun  has 
risen.  Nor  is  this  all.  He  assumes  that  for  his  appear- 
ance all  these  preparations  of  the  ages  were  made ; 
that  this  great  system  of  agencies,  laws,  and  revela- 
tions, was  instituted  expressly  with  sole  reference  to 
him  and  his  work  on  earth.  He  assumes  that  he  is 
the  seed  of  the  woman  who  is  to  bruise  the  serpent's 
head  and  repair  the  ruins  of  the  fall;  that  he  is  the 
great  sacrifice  by  whose  shed  blood  sin  is  to  be  atoned  ; 
that  he  is  the  seed  of  Abraham  in  whom  all  nations 
are  to  be  blessed  ;  that  he  is  the  great  prophet  of  whom 
Moses  wrote;  that  he  is  the  Son  of  David,  who  is  to 
rule  all  nations  and  found  an  everlasting  kingdom; 
that  he  is  the  sufferer  of  whom  Isaiah  prophesied,  who 
is  to  bear  our  sins  in  his  own  body;  that  he  is  the 
Lord  that  should  suddenly  come  into  his  temple, 
spoken  of  by  Malachi ;  and  that  he  is  the  Messiah 
come,  whom  John  preached.  In  him  the.  design  of  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets  is  completed  ;  up  to  this  point 
all  the  conditions  they  represent,  all  the  work  they 
were  designed  to  accomplish,  are  substantiated  and  an- 
swered and  accomplished  in  his  life.  Sweep  them  all 
awa}^;  prophets,  laws,  sacrifices,  national  institutes; 
let  them  perish  from  the  earth ;  their  work  is  done, 


LIFE     OF    CHRIST.  247 

their  purpose  fulfilled ;  for  lie,  the  Messiiili,  is  come 
who  is  to  make  all  things  new. 

Now  it  is  obvious  that  this  position  which  Christ  oc- 
cupies in  reference  to  the  past  history  of  the  church 
determines  liis  character,  his  work,  and  tlie  entire  plan 
for  its  accomplishment.  Just  as  the  fruit  of  a  tree  is 
determined  by  its  roots,  its  trunk,  and  its  branches, 
so  what  Jesus  was  to  be  and  to  do  was  determined  by 
his  relation  to  all  these  preparations  for  his  appearance. 
He  must  be  divine  as  well  as  human,  for  only  a  divine 
intellect  can  compass  this  whole  scheme  in  its  infinite 
wisdom.  His  work  and  the  plan  for  its  execution 
must  correspond  with  these  vast  preparations;  for  only 
thus  will  they  completely  fulfill  the  law  and  the  proph- 
ets, and  answer  all  the  ends  they  design  and  anticipate. 
Christ's  character  and  work  are  the  central,  the  essen- 
tial part  of  a  magnificent  scheme  of  religion  that 
reaches  from  Adam  to  the  conflagration.  But  to  unfold 
this  thought  more  fully,  we  must  now  look  at  his  rela- 
tion to  the  future  church.  In  doing  this,  we  must 
give  the  outlines  of  his  plan  and  work  as  the  Redeemer. 

First.  He  establishes  a  kingdom  which  is  spiritual 
and  universal.  The  fundamental  idea  of  this  kingdom 
is  a  renovated  heart.  At  the  outset  of  his  ministry  he 
declared  this  in  terms  the  most  positive  and  ex})licit. 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  can  not  see  the  king- 
dom of  God."  "  Except  ye  be  converted  and  become 
as  little  children,  ye  can  not  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  Renewed,  penitent,  believing  hearts  are 
the  elements  and  the  sole  elements  of  this  kingdom. 
The  Jew  was  born  into  the  outward  church;  he  became 
a  member  of  it  by  inheritance.  His  standing  in  that 
church  was  determined  solely  by  his  parents.     As  a 


248  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

Jew  he  was  entitled  to  all  its  rights  and  privileges, 
whether  he  in  heart  truly  loved  God  or  not.  Jesus 
abolishes  this  whole  national  system  of  religion.  To 
them  and  to  them  only  who  "received  him,  gave  he 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  which 
-  believe  on  him ;  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of 
the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God."  Henceforth  there  are  to  be  no  more  purely  na- 
tional or  state  religions,  but  one  church,  of  which  only 
they  are  true  members  who  have  been  born  from 
above,  who  have  felt  and  yielded  to  the  power  of  a 
divine  spirit,  who,  penitent  for  sin,  have  heartily  re- 
ceived him  as  their  Redeemer.  We  have  seen  him  in 
the  last  temptation,  putting  away  from  him  a  visible 
world-kingdom,  and  now  we  see  him  building  a  purely 
spiritual  kingdom,  with  no  reference  to  blood,  or  rank, 
or  nationality.  Wherever  in  this  world  a  soul  shall  be 
taught  and  heartily  receive  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus, 
that  soul  has  entered  his  kingdom.  The  child  black- 
ened by  an  African  sun,  the  Hindoo,  the  Indian,  yea, 
whoever  of  our  lost  race,  hearing  the  stor}^  of  his  life, 
shall  believe  in  his  heart  and  confess  with  his  lips  that 
Jesus  is  his  Savior,  is  a  true  member  of  his  one  living, 
spiritual,  and  universal  church.  Forms  are  nothing; 
state  lines  are  gone;  nations,  as  such,  are  unknown. 
Jesus  reigns  over  loving,  believing  hearts,  and  where 
these  are,  there  is  his  kingdom,  and  over  them  he 
wields  his  beneficent  scepter  of  righteousness,  peace, 
and  salvation. 

This  universal  kingdom  is  contemplated  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  associated  with  the  coming  of  Messiah. 
But  no  mere  prophet  ever  saw  it  in  its  true  nature  and 
simplicity.     The  wisest  of  the  Jews  ever  held  on  to 


LIFE    OF    pHRTST.  249 

their  formal  and  \  isildo  cliuri'h  as  the  central  form 
around  which  the  Gentiles  are  to  gather,  and  in  some 
undefined  way  contribute  to  its  glory  and  magnifi- 
cence. No  mere  man  could  have  dared  to  abrogate 
and  put  it  awaj'.  For  this  would  have  been  treason 
against  God  who  had  established  it.  But  Jesus,  the 
divine  man,  holds  in  his  mind  the  true  idea;  he  dares 
to  announce  it,  and  to  make  it  a  leading  feature  of  his 
plan  of"  redemption.  lie  unfolds  the  nature  of  that 
kingdom,  dimly  seen  in  the  visions  of  pro[»hets,  and, 
in  establishing  it,  revolutionizes  the  worship  of  the 
world. 

The  second  point  in  the  plan  and  work  of  Christ  is 
a  life  which  should  constitute  the  just  basis  of  such  a 
kingdom.  Logically,  this  thought  precedes  the  other; 
but  I  follow  the  order  of  Christ  himself  in  his  annun- 
ciation of  it.  A  kingdom  such  as  this  must  have  a 
basis  as  broad  as  the  world  to  render  it  possible.  The 
life  of  Jesus  furnishes  this  foundation.  This  divine- 
human  life  is  full  of  weakness  and  power,  suffering  and 
trial  on  one  side,  almighty  force  on  the  other;  tempta- 
tion to  sin  on  one  side,  perfect  obedience  on  the  other ; 
hatred,  malignity,  all  the  powers  of  hell  arrayed 
against  it,  met  by  divine  love  and  compassion  ;  the  sins 
of  men  laid  on  him  in  his  last  agony ;  death  for  man 
taking  possession  of  his  body,  followed  by  his  tri- 
um})hant  resurrection  and  ascension  to  glory.  Jesus 
in  his  life  and  death,  a  sacrifice  of  obedience  and  suf- 
fering, answers  the  claims  of  the  divine  law,  makes 
pardon  possible,  regeneration  possible,  a  spiritual 
kingdom,  all  whose  members  rest  on  him  in  faith  for 
salvation,  })0ssible.  This  is  the  foundation  of  his  king- 
dom.   Christ  lives,  obeys,  suffers,  not  as  a  Jew.  but  as  a 


250  SERMONS   ON    THE 

man;  not  for  the  Jew  alone,  but  for  the  world.  For 
all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God  ; 
being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemp- 
tion that  is  in  Christ  Jesus;  whom  God  has  set  forth 
to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  de- 
clare his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that 
are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God;  to  declare, 
I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  be 
just  and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus. 
Here  now  behold  the  significance  and  the  life  of  those 
bloody  sacrifices  instituted  when  man  fell  and  flaming 
up  to  heaven  for  four  thousand  years  !  Here  see  the 
grand  fulfillment  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  as  all 
down  the  ages  they  point  with  unerring  finger  to  this 
divine  man  who  is  to  bear  sin  by  the  shedding  of  his 
blood  for  the  world.  Where  now  are  the  bloody 
altars  ?  the  priestly  sacrifices  ?  the  hierarchy  of  Aaron  ? 
the  temple  service  ?  They  heard  the  cry  from  the 
cross,  "  It  is  finished  !"  The  real  sacrifice  for  sin  is 
oft'ered  and  bled  forever.  Altar,  priest,  temple,  all 
crumbled  to  dust,  while  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  proclaims  to  all  men  free 
forgiveness  and  eternal  life  for  every  one  who  in  hum- 
ble faith  will  receive  and  obey  him  as  the  Redeemer. 
Now  a  spiritual,  universal  kingdom  is  possible ;  for 
humanity  is  redeemed,  and  faith,  repenting,  receiving, 
loving  him  is  the  sole  condition  of  citizenship. 

Third.  The  next  prominent  feature  of  the  plan  and 
work  of  Christ  is  the  revelation  of  truth  correspond- 
ing to  the  nature  of  his  kingdom  and  essential  to  its 
advancement.  The  Old  Testament  scriptures  contain 
the  germs  of  the  future  kingdom,  because  in  efl'ect  it 
is  the  same  at  all  times.     The  elements  of  truth  and 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  251 


piety  are  all  there.  Bat  as  the  system  of  Moses  was 
itself  elementary  and  preparative,  involving  many 
thino-s  connected  with  the  form  of  the  chnrcli  as  a 
national  institution  which  must  pass  away  before  the 
full  development  of  the  spiritual  and  universal  church, 
so  the  scriptures  must  conform  to  that  system  in  order 
to  render  it  effective.  The  germs  of  the  Messianic 
kingdom  are  there  :  they  anticipate  a  better  state  of 
the  church;  they  constantly  force  upon  us  the  idea 
that  a  higher  and  purer  life  is  to  come.  But  their 
teachings  must  necessarily  correspond  with  the  imper- 
fect and  preparatory  state  of  the  church  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  appearance  of  Christ.  Now,  however, 
that  Christ  has  come  and  his  spiritual  kingdom  is  to  be 
established  ;  now  that  the  old  structure,  built  around 
the  church  to  protect  its  infancy  and  youth,  is  to  be 
taken  down,  there  must  be  a  new,  an  additional  reve- 
lation ;  the  germs  in  the  old  must  be  unfolded  in  the 
new,  and  the  harmony  of  both  illustrated ;  the  princi- 
ples and  constitution  of  this  fully  developed  kingdom 
of  heaven  are  to  be  revealed ;  the  relations  of  men  one 
to  another  and  to  Jesus  Christ  the  head  are  to  be  un- 
folded;  tlie  position  of  the  church  and  its  members 
in  the  world  ;  tlie  practical  doctrines  and  duties  which 
belong  to  this  higher  state  of  universal  religion;  the 
means  and  agencies  by  which  it  is  to  be  advanced  and 
its  future  prospects  must  be  set  forth.  Especially 
must  Jesus  Christ  in  his  character,  work,  and  relation 
to  men  as  the  chief  object  of  faith  be  declared ;  while 
the  position  and  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
new  kingdom  are  fully  implied.  In  execution  of  this 
plan  we  have  four  distinct  records  of  the  life  of  Jesus, 
constituting  a  unique  and  sufficient  exhibition  of  his 


252  SERMONS    ON    THE 

words,  his  works  and  his  snfleriiigs;  a  brief  history  of 
tlie  organization  and  establishment  of  the  church; 
various  epistles  unfoMingthe  doctrines  of  Christianity 
and  their  relation  to  Christian  experience  and  prac- 
tice, and  all  crowned  by  the  sublime  visions  of  the 
future  history  of  Christianity  in  the  world  of  the  seer 
of  Patnios.  This  Kew  Testament  embodies  the  con- 
stitution and  the  laws,  the  faith  and  the  practice  of 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  It  corresponds  with  the  Old 
Testament,  just  as  the  fruit  corresponds  with  the  bud, 
part  of  which  having  done  its  work  is  removed,  part 
of  which  as  vital  reiiiains.  And  thus  this  Bible  is 
given  to  man  by  Jesus,  as  the  only  infallible  and  all- 
sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Whatever  is  not 
found  here,  or  whatever  can  not  be  legitimately  de- 
duced from  tliis,  is  of  no  binding  obligation  upon  men  ; 
whatever  is  thus  found  is  divine  truth,  which  the  new- 
born citizens  of  this  heavenly  kingdom  receive  into 
their  hearts  as  the  teachings  of  their  divine  Lord. 

Fourth.  One  other  feature  of  Christ's  plan  and 
work  remains.  In  this  kingdom  Jesus  himself  is  the 
immediate  and  living  head.  He  is  not  a  dead  Christ, 
nor  an  abstract  Christ,  nor  a  mere  prophet  in  heaven  ; 
he  is  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high, 
the  living  source  of  all  power  and  life  to  the  church 
redeemed  by  his  blood.  In  his  name  all  his  followers 
present  their  petitions  to  the  Father.  The  divine  Son 
is  the  only  mediator  between  God  and  man.  He  sends 
the  Spirit  to  renew  and  sanctify  and  comfort  all  who 
come  to  God  by  him.  He  draws  man  to  him.  lie,  as 
once  suffering  in  our  nature,  holds  us  in  sympathy 
near  his  heart  in  all  our  trials.  He  gives  strength  to 
the  weak  and  wisdom  to  the  foolish.     He  sits  on  the 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  253 

mercy-seat  full  of  compassion,  ami  whoever  comes  to 
him  as  a  little  child  never  fails  of  success  and  support. 
In  him  the  faith  of  men  is  to  center  for  the  pardon  of 
their  sins.  Faith  pleads  all  the  promises  in  his  name. 
Love  swells  up  to  him  in  warmest  afiection.  lie  is 
the  daily,  hourly,  ever-present,  sympathizing,  power- 
ful Redeemer  of  his  people.  By  faith  in  him  they 
enter  his  kingdom ;  in  faith  they  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  him  as  their  Lord;  in  penitence  they  con- 
fess their  sins  to  him  and  through  him  receive  pardon 
and  peace  in  their  souls  ;  and  when  the  waters  of  death 
rise  dark  and  sullen  around  them,  faith  cries  in  tri- 
umph. Lord  Jesus  receive  my  spirit!  Thus  as  the  liv- 
ing head  of  his  church,  present  to  faith,  he  is  the 
Captain  of  salvation,  leading  his  sons  to  glory,  guiding 
his  people  through  the  perils  of  the  earthl}'  life  and 
bringing  them  at  last  to  worship  him  on  the  sea  of 
glass  as  the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  who  hath 
washed  them  white  in  his  own  blood  and  made  them 
kings  and  jtriests  unto  God. 

These  four  points  characterize  the  plan  and  work  of 
Christ — a  spiritual  and  universal  kingdom,  embrac- 
ing only  the  truly  penitent  and  believing ;  a  life  and 
death  vindicating  the  law  in  the  place  of  the  sinner, 
and  furnishing  the  basis  on  which  this  kingdom  rests; 
a  full  revelation  of  the  truth  necessary  to  illustrate 
the  nature  and  the  laws  of  this  kingdom  ;  and  Christ 
himself  as  the  only  living  head  of  this  kingdom  in 
his  divine  human  })crson. 

Now,  with  this  wonderful  plan  of  his  kingdom  in 
view,  you  will  see  at  once  how  it  determines  the  gen- 
eral plan  of  his  ministry  and  personal  life  on  earth. 
(1.)  Holding  in  his  mind  the  idea  of  a  spiritual   and 


254  SERMONS   ON    THE 

universal  kingdom,  he  puts  away  from  him  all 
thoughts  of  a  visible,  temporal  power.  He  rejects  the 
offer  by  Satan  of  a  world-crown.  He  will  not  suffer  the 
people  to  make  him  king.  He  will  not  allow  himself  to 
be  entangled  in  political  alliances,  and  answers  the  de- 
ceptive questions  of  the  Pharisees,  "Render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  be  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the 
things  that  be  God's."  He  will  not  use  the  weapons 
of  the  world-power  to  advance  his  cause.  "  Put  up 
thy  sword.  He  that  taketli  the  sword  shall  perish 
by  the  sword."  His  kingdom  is  spiritual  ;  its  armor 
is  faith  ;  its  weapons  truth  and  love.  What  has  he 
to  do  with  earthly  crowns  ?  What  to  him  is  the  tem- 
poral kingship  of  Judea  ?  The  nationality  of  the  Jew 
was  only  one  of  the  preparations  for  his  coming.  His 
hand  is  to  dash  it  in  pieces.  Its  work  was  accom- 
plished in  preparing  the  place  and  the  people  for  the 
demonstration  of  his  messiahship.  Steadily,  clearly, 
strongl}^  he  pursues  the  plan  of  unfolding  a  purely 
spiritual  kingdom,  in  the  face  of  temptation,  of  peril, 
of  the  clamors  of  the  people,  and  the  indignant  pro- 
tests of  his  own  disciples. 

(2.)  Holding  in  his  mind  the  idea  that  he  was  to  obey 
and  suffer  as  the  Lamb  of  God  for  the  sin  of  the  world, 
we  see  his  life  shaped  and  limited  by  this  thought  and 
the  work  it  involved.  Knowing,  feeling  that  he  was 
to  be  the  propitiation  for  sin,  shadowed  forth  by  four 
thousand  years  of  sacrifice,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  an- 
nounce the  fall  of  the  temple  and  the  priesthood. 
"  Those  great  stones  on  which  the  temple  rested, 
shall  not  be  left  one  upon  another."  This  idea  colors 
and  shapes  his  whole  life.  The  sadness,  the  tears,  the 
deep  compassion  for  the  people  in  their  ignorance,  all 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  255 


testify  to  it.  lie  anticipates  death  from  the  begin- 
ning; lie  foretells  it;  when  the  fit  time  came,  he  de- 
liberately offered  himself  to  it ;  he  institutes  the  sup- 
per ;  he  is  sore  distressed  in  Gethsemane  ;  he,  who  had 
passed  through  the  enraged  multitude  at  Nazareth, 
when  they  sought  to  cast  him  down  the  precipice,  fol- 
lows Judas  and  his  band  to  trial  and  the  cross.  This 
was  part  of  the  plan  of  his  life;  this  the  most  prom- 
inent idea  that  controlled  his  movements;  under  its 
dark  shadow  he  taught  and  prayed  and  suffered  until 
the  sacrifice  was  fully  offered. 

(3.)  But  these  were  not  all  the  ideas  that  entered 
into  and  shaped  the  plan  of  his  life.  For  this  king- 
dom he  was  to  establish  must  have  its  beginning  in 
some  souls ;  it  must  have  a  foot-hold,  a  place,  an  ac- 
tive agency,  and  a  beginning  on  earth.  Eejecting 
the  priesthood,  the  ral)bis,  the  agencies  of  the  old  sys- 
tem, he  must  create  all  things  new.  He  must  have 
chosen  disciples,  in  whom  his  divine  authority  must 
be  thoronghly  established;  to  whom  he  will  teach  the 
great  principles  of  his  new  kingdom,  and  fit  them  to 
be  the  exponents  of  his  truth,  the  witnesses  of  his 
life  and  works,  and  the  agents  for  the  unfolding  of 
his  gospel  and  the  organization  of  his  church,  when 
he  has  passed  into  the  heavens.  These  ideas  largely 
shape  his  plan.  This  work  requires  time.  Choosing 
his  apostles  at  the  outset  of  his  ministry,  he  instructs, 
he  elevates,  he  leads  them  up  to  the  high  position 
they  are  to  occupy. 

Full  of  Jewish  prejudices,  narrow  and  limited  in 
their  views,  he  teaches  them  as  little  children,  he 
lives  with  them,  he  works  mighty  miracles  in  their 
sight ;  gradually  they  rise  into  the  light.     He  opens 


256  SERMONS    ON    THE 

to  them  step  by  step  the  pure  and  spiritual  nature  of 
his  kingdom;  he  unveils  to  them  as  they  are  able  to 
bear  it  the  divinity  of  his  nature;  gradually,  as  their 
faith  and  knowledge  increase,  he  approaches  the  sub- 
ject of  his  death  as  a  sacriiice  for  sin,  and  his  resurrec- 
tion from  the  grave.  For  months,  for  years,  he  abides 
with  tliem,  in  private  and  iu  public,  making  them  the 
witnesses  of  his  life  and  his  miracles,  and  the  recipi- 
ents of  his  truth.  For  this  he  often  shunned  public- 
ity ;  for  this  he  retired  from  the  vengeful  toils  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees;  for  this  he  partially  and 
for  a  time  veiled  the  full  brightness  of  his  Messiahship. 
Then,  when  his  life  had  a  real  historical  foundation  ; 
when  his  truth  had  taken  possession  of  living  men, 
prepared  to  expound  it  and  stand  by  it;  when  his  divine 
human  nature  as  Messiah,  shining  through  his  life, 
his  words,  his  miracles,  had  established  itself  in  their 
faith  never  more  to  be  shaken,  then  the  time  for  the 
final  scenes  in  the  momentous  tragedy  and  the  equally 
momentous  triumph  had  come;  then,  and  not  till 
then,  he  goes  up  to  Jerusalem  and  ascends  the  cross, 
and,  dying,  works  the  grandest  miracle  of  time  in  his 
resurrection  and  ascension.  These  are  the  ideas  that 
shaped  his  whole  life ;  this  the  \)]ixn  of  action  he  orig- 
inates at  the  commencement  of  his  ministry  and  fol- 
lows with  divine  prescience  to  its  close. 

If,  now,  it  should  be  asked  whether  all  the  little  as 
well  as  the  great  points  of  his  life ;  whether  every 
step,  and  every  place,  and  every  work,  and  every  scene 
were  all  present  in  order  before  his  humanity  at  the 
commencement,  I  answer  that  the  knowledge  of  this 
fact,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  of  no  consequence. 
Taking  the  principle  which  I  stated  in  discoursing  to 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  257 

you  oil  the  divine  and  human,  that  the  inferior  is  de- 
pendent on  the  superior,  it  is  enough  for  us  to  know 
that  the  divine  nature  ilhiminated  the  human  just  so 
far,  and  only  so  far,  as  to  fit  liis  humanit}^  for  its  own 
work.  One  tiling  is  clear.  Only  a  divine  prescience 
could  flash  ligiit  on  the  vast  [treparatory  system  which 
found  its  fulfiUment  in  him,  and  onl}'  a  divine  presci- 
ence could  open  the  wondrous  plan  of  his  future 
kingdom.  In  his  life  with  divine  intuition  he  moves 
forward,  never  changing  his  plans,  never  foiled,  al- 
ways the  same,  until  his  work  is  done.  There  are  no 
afterthoughts,  no  unforeseen  obstacles,  no  hesitations, 
no  stop]>i ng  to  reason  out  the  best  course,  none  of  the 
weaknesses  to  which  the  greatest  human  intellects  are 
subject.  As  in  his  teachings  all  is  intuitive,  profound, 
fresh,  bright  with  divine  light,  so  in  his  action  all  is 
clear,  direct,  each  step  contributing  something  to  the 
final  result.  How  grand,  how  sublime,  how  divine, 
does  this  life  appear!  Here  is  one  to  whom  the  wis- 
dom of  God  for  the  redemption  of  the  ages  past  and 
the  ages  to  come  is  as  familiar  as  the  alphabet  of  child- 
liood.  Here  is  one  who  assumes  to  be  the  object  of 
all  the  preparatory  agencies  and  institutes  of  religion 
since  the  fall,  and  who  in  his  life  and  death  and  resur- 
rection vindicates  the  assumption.  Here  is  one  who 
holds  in  his  mind  the  sublime  idea  of  a  spiritual  and 
universal  kingdom,  unknown  to,  unthought  of  by  the 
wisest  of  men,  and  who  in  these  years  establishes  this 
kingdom  on  real,  historical  foundations,  Avhich  its 
after  progress  and  present  position  declare  to  be  divine 
and  eternal.  Here  is  one  iust  enteriiiij  into  full  man- 
hood,  surrounded  by  institutions  of  religion  divinely 
22 


258  SERMONS   ON    THE 

originated,  consecrated  by  time,  imbedded  in  tbe  beart 
of  the  nation,  who,  rejecting  all  temporal  power,  trust- 
ing only  to  the  force  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of  God, 
declares  their  end  and  dooms  them  to  utter  extinction. 
From  him  as  its  foundation,  its  leader,  and  its  life,  a 
new  kingdom  of  heaven  rises  into  existence,  comes 
forth  out  of  the  mists  and  concealments  and  sensuous 
coverings  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  arrayed  in  robes  of 
love  and  compassion  and  faith  and  truth,  breathing 
only  glory  to  God,  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to 
rnen.  This,  O  fallen  man,  is  our  Christ,  the  Christ  of 
prophecy,  the  Christ  of  history ;  the  living,  reigning 
Christ  whom  we  adore  as  divine,  whom  we  love  as  the 
incarnation  of  all  perfection,  whom  we  believe  in  as 
the  savior  of  our  souls  from  the  power  and  penalty  of 
sin.  By  his  side,  standing  in  childlike  confidence,  the 
law  has  no  curse,  death  no  sting,  the  grave  no  victory. 
Our  life,  hidden  in  his  life  and  deriving  from  it  new 
life,  is  purified,  exalted,  strengthened,  comforted,  pro- 
tected, and  made  victorious  over  all  the  powers  of  the 
world  and  the  devil.  Here  in  him  is  the  sacrifice  for 
sin  and  the  way  of  pardon  and  peace ;  here  in  him  is 
the  power  which  will  make  the  weak  strong  for  the 
ascent  up  the  narrow  way  of  life;  here  in  him  is  light 
on  all  the  dark  scenes  of  time,  light  to  scatter  the 
gloom  and  darkness  of  the  grave,  light  opening  to  us 
the  secrets  of  immortality.  Looking  on  him  in  faith, 
I  find  all  I  want  to  elevate,  purify,  enlighten,  and  save. 
In  him  the  mighty  promises  are  all  yea  and  amen. 
He  is  the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  leading  us  to  glory. 
No  wonder  the  four  and  twenty  elders  praise ;  no  won- 
der the  saints  on  the  sea  of  glass  ascribe  dominion  and 
power  and  glory  to  him  ;  no  wonder  heaven  rings  with 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  2-59 


the  praises  of  the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  throne ; 
no  Avonder  martyrs  and  confessors  liave  trusted  him 
and  rejoiced  in  him  amidst  the  fires;  no  wonder  liis 
people  in  their  sorrow  and  trials  look  to  him  for  com- 
fort and  joy;  no  wonder  sin-convicted  souls,  turning 
from  the  world,  cry  to  him  for  salvation ;  no  wonder 
poor  penitents  love  him  who  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness.  Here,  O  Christian,  is  your  prophet, 
priest,  and  king.  Here,  O  sinner,  burdened,  tossed, 
and  uneasy,  full  of  sad  anticipations,  is  thy  cure,  thy 
comfort,  thy  Savior !  Believe  on  him  now  to  the  sal- 
vation of  thy  soul ! 


260  SERMONS   ON    THE 


XV. 

THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES — THEIR  TRAINING. 

"  Again,  the  'next  day  after,  John  stood,  and  two  of  his 
disciples,  and  looking  ujpon  Jesus  as  he  walked,  he  saith, 
Behold  the  Lamb  of  God!  And  the  two  disciples  heard 
him  speak,  and  they  followed  Jesus." — John  i :  -35-37. 

The  commencement  of  Christ's  ministry  contrasts 
strangely  with  its  close.  Unknown  he  emerges  from 
the  wilderness,  and,  mingling  with  the  crowd,  hears 
John  testifying  to  his  Messiahship,  At  his  death  his 
name  is  on  every  lip,  and  the  heart  of  the  nation, 
from  Jerusalem  to  its  remotest  hamlet,  throbs  with 
tumultuous  passion.  He  appears  at  the  Jordan  singly 
and  without  pretension.  So  the  rill  breaks  from  the 
mountain  side  unnoticed  in  its  quietness — the  rill  that 
is  shortly  to  become  the  mighty  river,  refreshing  all 
lands  and  bearing  on  its  bosom«the  treasures  of  the 
world. 

The  Urst  object  of  Jesus  in  his  ministry  is  the  selec- 
tion and  training  of  a  band  of  disciples.  Until  this  is 
done,  nothing  is  really  done.  According  to  his  divine 
plan,  the  organization  of  a  society  embodying  his 
principles,  and  prepared  to  proclaim  them  through  the 
world,  is  absoluteh^  essential.  He  must  die,  he  must 
ascend  ;  the  headship  of  the  Church  is  divine  and 
spiritual,  in  him,  as  dwelling  at  the  right  hand  of 
Majesty  on  high.     His  disciples  on  earth  are  to  form 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  261 

the  organic  elements  of  liis  Cliurc]i,  and  through 
them^it  is  to  be  constituted  and  advanced.  Fully  to 
prepare  them  is  his  first  work.  The  general  subject, 
therefore,  on  which  I  propose  now  to  discourse  is  this  : 
the  choice  of  his  chief  disciples,  and  the  method  of 
Christ  in  training  them, 

1.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  selection  of  his 
first  disciples  was  made  from  those  who  had  attended 
on  John's  ministry,  and  were,  by  his  instructions,  pre- 
pared at  once  to  attach  themselves  to  Christ  as  the 
Messiah.  Among  the  disciples  of  the  Baptist  there 
were  many  of  the  superficial,  of  the  narrow-minded, 
obstinate  in  their  prejudices,  incapable  of  entering 
into  the  profounder  views  of  the  coming  kingdom. 
These  followed  iiim  as  a  prophet,  and  clung  to  him  to 
the  last.  But  there  were  others  of  broader  views,  of 
deeper  religious  insight,  of  larger  receptivity,  who  bet- 
ter understood  the  aim  of  his  preaching,  and  whose 
minds  rested  not  on  him  but  ou  Him  who  was  to  come. 
The  eti:ect  of  his  instructions  on  them  was,  not  to 
make  iiim  the  center  of  their  thoughts  and  hopes,  but 
to  awaken  deep  longings  and  anxious  expectations  in 
respect  to  Christ  himself.  When,  then,  Jesus  appeared 
and  was  identified  by  John,  they  immediately  attached 
themselves  to  him,  "  We  have  found  the  Messiah," 
say  they,  John  had  done  his  work  with  tliem.  Their 
thoughts,  their  hearts,  were  full,  not  of  John,  but  of 
Christ,  They  had  begun  to  enter  into  the  deeper 
meaning  of  tlie  prophecies,  and  were  waiting  with 
tremulous  expectation  for  his  coming.  Of  these  first 
five  who  seem  to  have  been  under  the  special  tuition 
of  the  Baptist,  all  became  subsequently  apostles,  and 


262  SERMONS   ON    THE 

two  of  them,  Peter  and  John,  rose  to  peculiar  emi- 
nence. 

There  is  something  beautiful  and  fit  in  the  fact  that 
John  should  have  thus  prepared  some  of  those  who 
were  to  he  the  chief  agents  in  the  organization  and 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Messiah.  Jesus 
honored  his  forerunner  in  selecting  his  first  disciples 
from  those  whom  John  had  thus  instructed.  The 
prophet's  work  is  vitally  connected  with  the  Savior's 
work.  And  while  the  preaching  of  the  Baptist  did 
much  to  awaken  general  expectation,  yet  if  you  ex- 
cept his  direct  prophetic  testimony  to  Jesus  as  Messiah, 
the  preparation  of  such  men  as  Peter  and  John  the 
Evangelist  and  their  associates  to  receive  him  as 
Christ  seems  to  us  a  work  more  vital  and  efiective 
than  all  the  rest.  In  this  world  it  is  not  popularity  or 
fame  that  determines  the  extent  and  power  of  a  per- 
son's real  influence.  It  is  rather  the  individual  minds 
which,  under  his  teachings,  become  in  turn  powers  of 
light,  great  forces  acting  on  others,  enlightened  agents 
in  moving  and  molding  multitudes.  Monica,  the 
mother  of  Augustine,  gave  him,  her  only  son,  to 
Christ.  His  father  would  have  him  educated  to  be  a 
philosopher,  a  rhetorician,  a  man  to  be  known  in  the 
world.  Augustine  passes  through  the  schools,  wins 
fame  as  an  orator,  becomes  a  philosopher,  goes  from 
one  system  to  another,  tries  all,  surrenders  himself  to 
pleasure,  seeks  rest  and  finds  it  not.  His  mother  fol- 
low^s  him  with  prayer,  with  gentle,  winning  influence, 
never  discouraged,  ever  trusting  in  God.  At  length 
he  is  brought  to  the  feet  of  Christ ;  he  enters  with 
sublime  earnestness  upon  the  work  of  the  ministr}-  ; 
he  speaks  that  which  is  blest  to  the  conversion  of  mu- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  263 

titudes;  he  writes,  and  the  ages  listen.  The  influence 
of  that  mother  is  mightier  than  that  of  any  Caesar 
who  ever  sat  upon  the  imperial  seven  hills.  So  in 
the  Sabbath  school,  in  our  class,  some  one  or  more 
minds  are  being  formed  to  brighten  many  minds,  to 
brighten  the  whole  Armament  of  thought  for  hun- 
dreds of  souls.  This  is  man  or  woman's  highest  mis- 
sion, to  aid  in  preparing  human  hearts  to  receive  Jesus 
Christ.  This  was  John's  mission,  and  thus  he  stands 
vitally  connected  Avith  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

2.  Let  us  now  dwell  briefly  on  the  manner  in  which 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  first  drawn  to  him.  You 
will  notice  at  once  that  this  varies  in  the  case  of  al- 
most each  individual.  In  the  free,  spontaneous  life  of 
the  new  kingdom  there  are  no  fixed  and  rigid  methods 
in  which  sinners  are  converted.  And  here,  at  the 
very  outset  of  Christ's  ministr}',  we  have  an  epitome 
of  the  ways  in  which  the  power  of  the  spirit  works  in 
bringing  men  into  this  kingdom.  In  the  first  instance, 
Jesus  is  Avalking,  waiting,  in  holy  communion  with 
God,  for  the  commencement  of  his  work.  The  Bap- 
tist sees  him,  and  })oints  him  out,  as  the  Lamb  of  God, 
to  two  of  his  own  disciples,  Andrew  and  John  the 
Apostle  or  Evangelist.  They  approach  Jesus ;  lie 
turns  and  asks  them.  What  seek  ye?  They  answer, 
Master,  where  dwellest  thou  ?  Their  hearts  are  full 
of  another  question ;  they  want  to  ask.  Art  thou  the 
Messiah?  But,  in  their  embarrassment,  they  change 
the  question  to  one  of  mere  courtesy;  such  as  they 
might  have  asked  of  any  other  person.  Men  are  alike 
in  the  world.  The  things  most  vital  to  the  soul,  they 
fear  to  ask  about ;  tlie  things  which  concern  the  body 
or   this  world,   they   are   free   to    speak    of,   even  to 


264  SERMONS    ON    THE 

strangers;  but  the  thoughts,  the  anxieties,  that  con- 
cern the  soul,  they  bury  deep  in  their  own  bosoms; 
they  fear  to  converse  about  them  ;  they  are  unwilling 
to  ask  of  a  Christian  friend,  or  their  pastor:  How  can  I 
find  Christ,  and  be  saved  ?  Jesus  sees  their  embar- 
rassment. He  has  been  waiting  for  them;  with  gentle 
courtesy,  he  bids  them  come  and  see.  They  follow 
him,  and  abide  with  him  till  the  stars  shine  out.  But 
from  that  hour  the  sun  of  righteousness,  brighter  than 
all  the  stars,  the  source  from  which  all  prophets  re- 
ceived their  light,  has  risen  upon  them.  Henceforth 
they  abide  with  Christ  forever.  Then  appears  an- 
other person  on  the  stage.  These  disciples,  full  of  the 
Savior  they  have  found,  are  fired  with  zeal  to  make 
him  known  to  others.  For  true  religion  is  ever  dif- 
fusive ;  it  is  not  content  wiih  possessing  Christ  alone  ; 
it  burns  to  win  others,  and  put  them  in  possession  of 
the  same  precious  treasure.  Its  element  is  love  ;  and 
love  is  like  light,  penetrating  everywhere,  seeking  to 
give  what  it  possesses,  to  make  salvation  common  to 
the  Avorld.  And  so  Andrew  seeks  out  his  brother 
Simon  ;  tells  him  the  joyful  tidings  :  We  have  found 
Messiah  !  brings  him  to  Jesus.  Then  ensues  a  char- 
acteristic scene.  Jesus  at  once  apprehends  his  char- 
acter, and  deals  with  him  accordingly.  Peter  is  bold, 
impetuous,  strong.  Christ  addresses  him  directly 
with  divine  authority  and  prophetic  words:  Simon, 
son  of  Jonas,  thou  shalt  be  called  Cephes,  or  a  stone. 
To  change  the  name  is  an  exercise  of  authority. 
Henceforth  he  is  no  more  Simon — Cephes,  Petra,  a 
-stone-man,  the  same.  The  Latin  is  Petra,  and  we  angli- 
cize it,  Peter.  The  church  and  the  world  ever  since 
have  known  him  by  that  name.     Jonas  means  a  dove  ; 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  265 

Peter,  a  stone.  Simon,  son  of  the  dove,  thou  art 
henceforth  a  rock,  on  which  I  will  build  the  church. 
Peter  recognizes  and  bows  to  the  master's  authority. 

Another  character  appears.  As  Jesus  moves  to- 
ward Galilee  he  linds  Philip.  At  once  he  issues  his 
command  :  Follow  me  !  These  words  strike  right  in- 
to the  heart,  as  if  a  thunderbolt  had  smitten  him,  and 
henceforth  he  is  Christ's  forever.  He  Unds  Nathanael, 
and  tells  him  that  in  Jesus  of  I^azareth  they  had  found 
the  Messiah.  But  I^athanael  is  a  man  of  a  dilterent  sort 
from  Philip — calm,  cool,  thoughtful ;  he  is  incredulous. 
Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  ^Nazareth  ?  The  idea 
was  absurd,  that  out  of  so  debased  a  village  the  true 
Messiah  should  rise.  Philip  says:  Come  and  see.  So 
says  the  true  convert  to  the  incredulous  world  :  Come 
and  see  Jesus.  Nathanael  came.  See  now  howdift'er- 
ently  Jesus  treats  this  cautious  soul  :  Behold  an  Is- 
raelite indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile.  This  is  no 
flattery ;  it  is  simple  truth.  Natlianael  answers : 
Whence  knowest  thou  me?  Jesus  says:  Before  that 
Philip  called  thee;  when  thou  wast  under  the  fig 
tree,  I  saw  thee !  He  sees  at  once  that  Jesus  knows 
him,  discerns  his  thoughts;  hath  a  divine  intuition 
that  searches  through  him.  His  incredulity  is  gone, 
and  he  exclaims:  "Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God  ; 
thou  art  the  king  of  Israel ! " 

Now  here  are  the  tirst  five  disciples  won  to  him  in  a 
few  hours,  and  by  no  less  than  four  different  methods. 
Does  not  this  prove  what  I  have  said :  that  Jesus  is  - 
limited  to  no  fixed  method  in  the  conversion  of  men  ? 
This  thought  comes  out  with  increasing  clearness  in 
all  his  subsequent  life,  and  when  we  come  to  the  his- 
23 


266  SERMONS   ON    THE 


tory  of  the   Christian   Church  we  see  it  everywhere 
illustrated  in  times  and  ways  and  persons  innumer- 
able.    In  these  days  men  often  bind  round  themselves 
a  set  of  rigid  formalities  and  notions,  beyond  which 
they  can  see  nothing  good.     They  mark  out  for  the 
Spirit  of  God  a  single  path,  along  which   He  must 
move  in  the  conversion  of  sinners.     They  distrust  all 
methods  of  Christian  activity  for  the  salvation  of  men 
that  do  not  harmonize  with  their  narrow  peculiarities. 
One  thinks  that  conversion  is  the  result  of  a  long  pro- 
cess of  education  ;  another,  that  there  must  be  a  pro- 
tracted attendance  on  preaching;  another,  that  it  must 
be  associated  with    certain   ecclesiastical   forms   and 
manipulations ;  another,  that  sudden  conversions  are 
always   suspicious;  another,  that  in   a  revival   of  re- 
ligion such  results  can  only  be  expected.     Now  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  bound  down  to  no  man's  method,  and 
conforms  His  operations  to  no  man's  ideas  of  titness. 
The  church  is  the  product  of  the  Divine   Spirit,  in- 
linitely  free  and  wise,  using  all  sorts  of  agencies,  and 
bringing  men  into  the  kingdom  by  just  such  methods 
as  He  sees  best;  sometimes  in  revivals,  and  sometimes 
when  there   is   no  wide-spread  interest  in  religion  ; 
sometimes  after  years  of  labor,  and  sometimes  sud- 
denly— like  the  call  to  Philip,  flashing  into  the  heart : 
Follow  thou  me;  sometimes  by  means  of  the  regular 
preaching  of  the  truth,  and  sometimes  by  the  regu- 
larly spoken  truth  of  some  seemingly  feeble  instru- 
ment.    And  thus  it  is  enforced  upon  us  that  we  must 
sow  our  seed  by  all  waters;  with  strong  hands  and 
feeble  hands ;  in  the  church  and  in  the  sabbath-school, 
and  in   the  family,  and  out  by  the  waysides  of  life. 
Only  we  must  sow  in  prayer;  sow  in  tearful  love;  sow 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST  267 

in  liuniblc  conlidenco  in  Jesus;  not  knowing  wliether 
this  or  that  shall  prosper,  but  confident  that  in  the 
end  we  shall  return  with  rejoicing,  bringing  our 
sheaves  with  us. 

3.  We  come  now  to  our  principal  subject  in  this 
discussion  :  the  training  of  his  disciples.  And  here 
there  are  two  points  on  which  we  must  dwell — the 
object  and  the  method  of  this  training.  The  object  is 
the  first;  for  this  will  control  and  give  cliaracter  to 
the  entire  process.  And  this  is  peculiar.  It  is  noth- 
ing less  than  to  secure  and  establish  their  faith  in  him 
personally.  All  other  true  teachers  and  reformers 
labor  to  make  their  schohirs  proficient  in  science,  to 
show  them  truth  and  how  to  attain  it.  But  Christ 
aims  at  making  his  disciples  proficient  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  himself.  They  sink  themselves  and  exalt  sci- 
ence ;  Jesus  exalts  himself  and  sinks  science.  They 
make  truth  the  center,  and  themselves  only  inquirers 
after  it.  Jesus  makes  himself  the  center,  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life.  Paul  had  a  gigantic  intellect, 
highly  cultivated  and  informed  with  all  the  science  of 
the  age.  But  he  is  content  to  be  accounted  nothing,  if 
-only  Jesus  may  be  received  as  embodjing  in,  himself 
the  sum  of  all  things  most  needful  for  men  to  know. 
The  author  of  Ecce  Homo  has  grasped  this  thought; 
but  ho  fails  in  developing  the  true  ground  on  which  it 
rests;  his  method  of  incpiiring  and  the  limitations  he 
places  upon  himself  prevented  a  full  discussion  of  this 
vital  point.  The  answer  to  the  question,  in  what  re- 
spect and  to  what  extent  did  Christ  train  his  disciples 
to  have  faith  in  him,  will  bring  us  right  into  the  heart 
of  our  subject.     The  answer  given  by  his  teachings, 


268  SERMOiVS    ON    THE 

and  by  the  subsequent  exposition  of  his  disciples,  com- 
prises the  following  points  : 

(1.)  He  sought  to  establish  their  faith  in  him  person- 
ally as  divine  and  human.  This  was  a  fact  wholly  per- 
sonal ;  it  was  not  an  abstraction,  not  a  mere  tbeory, 
not  a  creation  of  the  imagination  to  be  inquired  into 
and  discussed  as  a  possible  or  a  probable  thing.  It 
was  a  living,  concrete  fact.  He  embodied  it  in  his 
own  constitution.  He  was  the  Son  of  Mary  and  the 
Son  of  God.  He  was  divinity  incarnate ;  in  human- 
ity, the  Son  of  Man  and  Immanuel,  God  with  us. 
This  was  in  itself  the  grandest  truth  ever  revealed  to 
the  mind  of  man — infinitely  greater  than  all  the  facts 
and  laws  of  natural  or  moral  science,  for  it  involved 
the  source  of  all  science,  divine  and  human;  it  stood 
at  the  summit  of  all  knowledge.  Christ's  feet  were 
on  earth,  but  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  God  himself 
crowned  his  head.  No  such  thing  as  this  had  ever 
before  appeared  on  earth.  Pretended  incarnations 
there  had  been,  but  they  only  revealed  the  longing  of 
the  noblest  minds  for  such  a  being  to  new  create  and 
enlighten  and  save  the  world.  They  were  but  shoot- 
iilg-stars,  meteors  of  a  moment,  flashing  upon  the  dark- 
ness and  then  fading  into  night.  This  incarnation  was 
the  true  Son  rising  on  men,  to  be  fixed  forever  in  the 
heaven  of  his  highest  thoughts  and  feelings,  and 
lighten  all  the  race.  This  twofold  nature  in  Christ 
was  the  basis  of  everything  vital  in  Christianity.  It 
invested  him  with  supreme  authority ;  it  imparted  to 
all  he  did  and  suffered  divine  efficacy.  It  made  him 
personally  the  proper  object  of  faith,  obedience,  and 
love.  To  train  them,  his  disciples,  to  revere  this  faith 
and  understand  its  real  ground,  was  the  first  great  ob- 


LIFE    OF    CHKIST.  269 

ject  before  him.  Whatever  else  might  fail,  this  point, 
the  most  difficult,  the  vital  heart  of  all  his  work,  must 
be  gained.  He  must  be  established  in  their  deepest 
convictions  as  the  true  and  only  Immannel — the  Son 
of  God  and  the  Sou  of  Man. 

(2.)  It  was  an  important  object  in  the  training  of  the 
disciples  to  inform  them  respecting  the  precise  relation 
in  which  Christ  stood  to  the  whole  prophetic  and 
Mosaic  system  of  faith  and  practice.  They  were  Jews ; 
animated  by  faith  in  their  religion  as  divine  ;  incrusted 
round  with  the  habits  and  modes  of  thonglit  and  feel- 
ing created  by  its  observance.  Now  their  sphere  of 
thought  was  to  be  vastly  enlarged  ;  the  barriers  which 
shut  them  in  must  be  broken  down;  life-long  habits 
and  prejudices  must  be  leveled.  The}'  are  to  see  the 
past  in  a  new  light  in  order  to  appreciate  their  posi- 
tion in  the  present  and  the  future.  Only  thus  can 
they  be  prepared  for  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  They  are 
to  learn  that  the  Jewish  church  was  but  a  stage  in  the 
progress  of  true  religion,  established  for  a  special  pur-, 
pose;  that  Christ  himself  was  its  end  and  fultillment; 
that  he  was  the  center  of  the  whole  system  of  religion  ; 
that  all  the  past  dispensations,  the  Adamic,  the  patri- 
archal, the  Mosaic,  were  only  preparatory  to  his  com- 
ing. They  are  to  learn  that  Christ  himself  gave  vital- 
ity and  saving  efficacy  to  the  faith  of  prophets  and  the 
sacrifices  of  the  law.  Christianity  in  its  essence  was 
not  a  new  thing  in  the  workl;  it  was  not  a  ne'w  world 
just  created.  It  was  hidden  in  Christ  at  the  heart 
of  the  old  system  of  faith.  It  was  respecting  him 
the  prophets  inquired  diligently  when  their  sublime 
prophecies  were  to  be  fulfilled.  lie  was  the  Mes- 
siah  of  prophecy,  answering  in  his  person,  life,  and 


270  SERMONS   O^   THE 

work  to  all  the  demands  and  descriptions  of  centuries 
of  inspiration.  He  was  to  fulfill  every  prediction  and 
meet  every  purpose  of  the  ages.  All  the  seemingly 
contradictory  attributes  and  works  ascribed  to  liini  by 
the  prophets  were  to  be  reconciled  in  his  person  and 
life,  l^ow  that  he  had  come,  the  old  scaffolding  was 
to  be  taken  down  ;  national  distinctions  in  religion  are 
to  be  obUterated.  The  true  temple  is  to  rise  in  spir- 
itual beauty,  by  spiritual  agencies  emanating  directly 
from  him.  This  object  was  of  great  importance.  This 
gained,  and  Christ's  relation  to  the  church  of  the  past 
and  the  churcli  of  the  future  appeared  in  all  its  real 
harmony  and  glory.  This  gained,  and  then  the  way 
is  open  for  the  church  to  take  its  new  position  as  em- 
bodying a  religion  for  all  men,  while  it  is  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  both  prophets  and  apostles,  Jesus 
Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone. 

3.  The  third  object  to  be  gained  in  the  education  of 
his  disciples  was  to  establish  them  in  the  faith,  that 
his  life  as  divine  and  human,  and  his  obedience  unto 
death  constitutes  the  sole  foundation  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  men.  This  truth,  as  I  have  said,  lay  hidden  at 
the  heart  of  the  old  system  of  faith.  But  now  it  is  to 
come  forth  into  light.  It  is  to  become  -a  fact  in  his- 
tory, and  not  a  dimly  apprehended  fact  in  prophecy. 
Christ  appears  and  lives  under  just  the  conditions  suit- 
able for  effecting  this  great  object,  dies  on  the  cross 
and  ascends  to  heaven.  Henceforth  not  what  he  is  to 
do,  but  what  he  is,  and  has  done,  is  to  be  ground  of 
faith  in  him  for  salvation.  This  fact  broadens  Chris- 
tianity and  makes  it  cotern^inous  in  its  provisions  with 
the  race.  This  truth  is  the  vital  power  of  all  true  re- 
ligion.    This  gave  the  temple  to  the  torch,  and  Jeru- 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  271 


stilem  to  the  sword  and  plowshare  of  the  Roman  le- 
gions. This  was  the  inspiration  of  its  earliest  and  all 
its  true  victories.  This  gave  a  new  civilization  to  the 
world.  This  single  truth,  that  to  the  believer  Christ 
Jesus  is  made  of  God,  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctifi- 
cation,  and  redemption,  throbs  in  the  air  and  shines  in 
transforming,  quickening  light,  wherever  the  gospel 
is  preached.  When  this  truth  enters  the  heart  of  a 
sinner,  when  Christ  comes  home  to  him  as  his  Re- 
deemer, he  sees  all  things  in  a  new  light,  the  scales  fall 
from  his  eyes,  the  chains  from  his  limbs ;  new  strength 
nerves  his  soul ;  the  world  takes  its  true  position,  and 
Christ  as  the  sun  of  salvation  and  light  and  power  is 
in  the  center  of  the  whole  system  of  thought  and  life, 
around  whom  planets  and  stars  and  the  earth  all  move 
in  blessed  harmony.  And  when  once  this  fact  was  es- 
tablished in  the  convictions  of  his  disciples,  then  they 
became  soldiers  of  the  cross  ;  then  to  live  was  Christ, 
and  to  die  was  inetiable  srain. 

■  4.  Then  a  fourth  object  was  to  train  the  disciples  to 
look  to  him  as  the  source  of  all  power  necessary  for 
them  iu  their  work.  He  is  the  head,  they  are  the 
body ;  he  is  the  bridegroom,  they  the  bride ;  he  is  the 
vine,  they  the  branches;  he  is  the  king,  they  his  sub- 
jects; he  is  the  light  and  the  truth,  they  his  scholars; 
he  the  Redeemer,  th^y  his  ransomed  people.  All 
prayer  is  to  be  offered  in  his  name.  He  is  to  send 
them  the  spirit  to  guide  them  into  truth,  prepare  them 
to  expound  it,  and  give  them  a  personal  victory  over 
sin  and  death.  He  is  the  captain  of  salvation,  leading 
many  sons  to  glory.  He  is  the  author  and  finisher  of 
taith  to  whom  they  must  look.  He  is  the  sympathizing 
High  Priest,  ever  making  intercession  for  them  and 


272  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

calling  them  to  the  mercj-seat,  that  they  may  obtain 
mercy  and  find  grace  in  every  hour  of  need.  All  power 
in  heaven  and  earth  is  given  to  him,  and  in  him  they 
have  all  things.  In  such  variety  of  forms  is  the  head- 
ship of  Christ  over  the  church  expressed.  Types,  fig- 
ures, metaphors,  language  itself  seems  almost  exhausted 
in  the  etfort  to  describe  his  vital  relation  to  his  dis- 
ciples in  all  the  conditions  of  their  life.  They  were  to 
learn  this  truth,  learn  it  experimentally;  it  must  be 
established  in  them  as  firmly  as  the  heart  itself.  They 
must  breathe  this  faith  as  their  vital  air;  they  must 
live  in  it  as  the  source  of  all  their  power.  These  were 
the  objects  Jesus  purposes  in  the  training  of  his  dis- 
ciples. Christ  as  divine  and  human.  Christ  as  the 
end  and  fulfillment  of  the  law  and  prophets.  Christ 
as  the  Redeemer  of  the  world.  Christ  as  the  ever  liv- 
ing bead  of  the  church. 

Now  all  these  objects  are  personal.  They  all  center 
in  the  nature,  relations,  and  work  of  Christ  himself. 
You  see  why  he  trains  his  disciples  to  exercise  faith  in 
him  personally  ;  why  he  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life.  Other  men,  philosophers,  taught  their  disciples 
to  interrogate  nature  and  discover  its  laws.  Jesus, 
rising  infinitely  above  them,  teaches  his  disciples  to 
know  him^ — him  the  superior  of  nature,  the  center  of 
a  sphere  of  knowledge  beyond  nature,  the  life  in  the 
soul,  the  power  on  the  throne,  who  held  all  natural 
forces  as  his  servitors,  who  dwelt  in  the  light  of  God 
and  brought  it  down  to  men,  who  solved  the  great 
problems  of  man's  destiny,  illustrated  the  divine  laAV, 
atoned  for  sin,  revealed  the  future  life,  and  gave  power 
to  all  who  received  him  to  become  sons  of  God.  The 
author  of  "  Ecce  Homo"  could  not  have  gone  into  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  273 

real  reasons  why  Christ  differed  from  all  other  teachers 
in  training  his  disciples  to  have  faith  in  him  and  make 
him  their  Lord,  without  at  once  emerging  into  the 
sunlight  of  his  divinity.  No  other  being  ever  existed 
■who  dared  make  such  demands  upon  the  faith  of  his 
disciples.  No  other  being,  if  lie  had  done  so,  could 
have  justified  them  on  grounds  which  millions  of  re- 
deemed souls  feel  to  be  infinitely  worthy.  Such  then 
is  the  great  object  of  Jesus  in  training  his  disci[)lcs  to 
establish  their  faith  in  him  personally  in  all  these  re- 
spects. 

Let  us  look  now  at  the  method  of  his  training.  First, 
the  principles  of  discipleship  he  laid  down  were  most 
strict  and  exclusive.  Supreme  loyalty  to  him  in  all 
circumstances  must  be  exercised.  If  a  person  became 
his  disciple,  he  must  yield  himself  absolutely  to  his  au- 
thority in  all  things.  He  claimed  not  only  the  right 
to  control  the  outward  life,  but  the  heart  itself.  A 
man  must  love  him  more  than  father  or  mother,  wife 
or  child.  He  must  be  prepared  to  meet  all  difliculties 
in  his  service,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of  life ;  he  must 
deny  himself  daily,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow 
him.  No  general  ever  exacted  such  faith  and  obedi- 
ence from  his  soldiers  as  Jesus  demands  from  his  dis- 
ciples; for  the  general's  commands  reached  only  to 
acts — Christ's  reach  all  through  and  around  the  soul. 
AVhen  one  came  to  him  professing  a  readiness  to  fol- 
low him,  after  he  had  buried  his  father,  he  said,  "Let 
the  dead  bury  their  dead;"  and  in  another  case  he 
rebuked  the  divided  spirit  which  sought  to  combine 
otljer  concerns  wiih  his  service,  saying,  "No  man 
ha\  ing  placed  his  hand  to  the  plow  and  looking  back, 
is  tit  for  the  kingdom  of  God."     This  w^as  the  princii>le 


274  SERMONS   ON    THE 

that  sifted  out  the  frivolous,  the  time-servers,  the  peo- 
ple who  followed  him  only  to  see  his  mighty  deeds,  with 
no  just  appreciation  of  his  character  and  no  true 
faith  in  him  as  Messiah.  He  placed  himself  and  his 
service  on  a  divine  platform  at  once.  He  thus  edu- 
cated his  disciples  up  to  a  strong  living  faith  in  him 
as  their  real  king  and  spiritual  head.  He  placed 
himself  above  Moses  and  the  prophets,  above  the  high 
priest  and  sanhedrim,  above  Pilate  and  the  Caesar,  and 
made  the  relation  of  a  disciple  to  him  more  vital,  com- 
manding, and  obligatory  than  any  other  in  the  world. 
And  this  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  only  true  and  fit 
position  for  any  person  to  occupy  who  is  to  live  and 
be  saved  by  Jesus  Christ  as  a  divine  Redeemer.  A 
man  must  follow  Jesus  as  a  little  child;  he  must  put 
away  his  self-dependence  and  worldly  attachments. 
He  must  hold  all  his  earthly  relations  in  subordination 
to  his  relation  to  Christ.  This  is  the  path  of  faith; 
this  the  point  up  to  which  Jesus  is  educating  every 
one  who  receives  him ;  and  by  at  once  magnifying  their 
relations  to  him  as  supreme,  he  placed  discipleship  on 
the  only  true  ground  ;  he  put  them  in  a  condition  to 
attain  fuller  faith  in  him  and  learn  of  him  the  truth 
respecting  his  person,  character,  and  plans,  and  the 
real  nature  of  his  kingdom. 

To  see  still  further  the  process  of  training  we  must 
look  at  his  manner  of  life.  He  did  not  do  as  the 
rabbis  and  philosophers  did — gather  a  number  of 
pupils  in  one  place,  and  then  from  day  to  day  exercise 
their  minds  on  hard  intellectual  problems.  He  was  a 
man  of  the  people;  his  mission  was  to  save  souls  and 
not  to  amuse  or  cultivate  the  intellect.  The  truth  was 
in  his  life,  and  this  life  was  the  life  of  the  world.     He 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  275 

liad  no  fixed  and  permanent  abode.  Ills  headquarters 
may  have  been  at  Capernaum,  but  his  Hfe  was  mainly 
spent  out  among  tlie  people.  He  preaches  the  gospel 
all  round  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  in  all  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages of  northern  Palestine ;  he  goes  to  Jerusalem, 
and  discourses  to  the  crowds  collected  at  the  great 
feasts  ;  he  does  not  disdain  to  visit  the  Samaritans  and 
win  some  souls  among  that  ruined  people.  He  declared 
to  one  who  offered  to  follow  him:  "The  foxes  have 
holes  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son 
of  Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head."  In  all  these 
journeys  his  chosen  disciples  accompanied  him  ;  they 
shared  his  fare ;  they  walked  and  rested  with  him, 
and  witnessed  all  his  life. 

(1.)  Here,  then,  at  the  outset,  we  may  say,  the}'  were 
brought  into  the  closest  intimacy  with  him  and  were 
subject  to  his  unconscious ~  influence ;  for  there  flows 
from  ever}-  person  an  unconscious  influence,  the  result 
of  his  spirit  and  life,  that  aftects  those  intimate  with 
us.  This  influence  is  often  mightier  in  molding  others 
than  even  our  spoken  words  and  prominent  acts. 
You  can  not  define,  3'ou  can  not  lay  hold  of  it  and 
analyze  it,  any  more  than  you  can  the  influence  of  the 
breath  of  spring.  You  can  only  feel  it.  And  Christ 
designed,  by  thus  keeping  his  disciples  by  his  side,  to 
make  them  thoroughly  acquainted  with  himself.  He 
has  no  mock  official  dignity,  which  hides  the  native 
weakness  from  the  view  of  men.  He  is  open,  simple, 
accessible,  descending  to  their  level.  He  is  brotherl}', 
affectionate,  gentle,  heavenly.  They  hear  him  pray; 
they  sec  him  weep.  They  feel  the  beatings  of  his 
compassionate  heart.  They  seem  to  be  almost  con- 
scious of  the  divine  fullness  of  power  and  benevolence 


276  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

and  wisdom  that  flow  from  him.  Thus  they  come  to 
know  him  and  feel  his  influence  in  the  most  intimate 
relations  of  life. 

(2.)  In  connection  with  this  you  see  how  Clirist  in- 
ducts them  into  the  true  method  of  advancing  his 
kingdom.  His  kingdom  is  to  he  set  up  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people;  it  is  to  he  a  salvation  for  all  men. 
And  Jesus  does  not  confine  himself  to  one  class  or 
place;  he  goes  round  from  village  to  village,  healing 
the  sick  and  preaching  his  gospel.  He  does  not  wait 
for  them  to  come  to  him;  he  carried  the  gospel  to 
them.  He  repels  no  one  ;  the  publicans  and  the  har- 
lots are  as  dear  to  him  as  scribes  and  priests.  He  goes 
into  their  houses,  reclines  at  their  tables,  heals  their 
loathsome  diseases,  spreads  beneflcence  and  light  all 
round  them.  Thus  did  he  train  his  disciples  to  un- 
derstand how  the  gospel  is  to  be  spread  among  men. 
And  this  method  they  afterward  adopted,  and  the 
world  feels  their  power.  The  church  at  this  day  has, 
to  some  extent,  forgotten  her  Master's  example.  But 
when  she  shall  gird  herself  for  this  work  of  preaching 
Christ  persistently  to  the  poor,  then  the  millenium  will 
come. 

(3.)  Another  advantage  this  method  aftbrded,  was 
that  his  disciples  heard  all  his  public  discourses. 
These  were  called  out  by  various  occasions,  and  thus 
they  have  such  variety. 

(4.)  Then  this  intimacy  of  life  enabled  him  to  give 
them  in  private  such  special  instructions  and  such  ex- 
planations of  his  [tublic  discourses  as  otherwise  they 
could  uot  have  obtained;  and  in  these  ways  a  vast 
amount  of  truth  is  given  to  them. 

(5.)  Walking  thus  with  Jesus,  they  witnessed  his 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  277 

miracles  ;  they  knew  the  occasions  on  which  they  were 
wronght ;  they  saw  the  divine  power  and  love  mani- 
fested in  them. 

(6.)  Then,  in  addition  to  all  this,  Jesus  occasionally 
sent  them  forth  to  preach  the  truths  they  had  begun 
to  learn.  lie  would  have  them  try  their  powers.  As 
the  eagle  thrusts  a  fledgling  from  the  nest,  and,  when 
its  little  wings  fail,  flics  under  it  and  bears  it  up  and 
then  lets  it  try  again,  so  Jesus  taught  them,  tested 
them,  sustained  them  in  preparation  Ibr  the  time  when 
he  should  be  taken  from  them. 

(7.)  Walking  thus  with  him,  taught  thus  by  him, 
molded  by  his  deity,  brought  into  most  intimate 
knowledge  of  his  character,  at  length  they  follow  him 
to  Gethsemane,  to  Calvary,  to  Olivet,  and  the  discip- 
line is  complete.  Behold  the  result !  These  once 
unlearned  Jews,  full  of  national  prejudices,  narrow- 
minded,  of  no  account,  without  power,  suddenly  ap- 
pear on  the  stage  of  action  powers  of  light.  Iiitellec-, 
tual,  fervid,  bold,  broad-minded  ;  they  begin  to  preach 
a  crucitied  and  risen  Savior.  The  attention  of  the 
world  is  arrested.  At  Jerusalem  flrst,  thousands  arc 
converted  ;  then,  scattered  by  persecution,  they  carry 
the  light  of  redemption  through  the  realms  of  pagan- 
ism and  science,  everywhere  planting  churches,  and 
sowing  the  seed  of  future  harvests.  And  thus  Christ's 
choice  and  discipline  of  his  early  disciples  is  vindicated 
as  divine  wisdom,  and,  like  all  his  words  and  works, 
proclaim  him  to  be  in  truth  the  Son  of  God,  the  Savior 
of  the  world. 

And  now  let  us  learn  the  lessons  taught  us  in  this 
rapid  survey  of  our  subject. 

1.  God  uses  .one  person  to  prepare  those  who  may 


278  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

be    converted    by   the    agency   of    another — parents, 
teachers,  private  Christians,  ministers. 

2.  The  whole  discipline  of  Christ  is  designed  to  lead 
us  to  have  faith  in  him  personally. 

3.  The  Gospel  is  to  be  applied  to  the  poor  of  his 
Clmrch. 

4.  Jesus  now  calls  each  of  you  to  follow  Ijim. 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  279 


XVI. 

THE  "CALLING    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days  that  he  went  out 
into  a  mountain  to  pray,  and  continued  all  night  in  prayer 
to  God;  and  ivhen  it  ivas  day  he  called  unto  him  his  dis- 
ciples, and  of  them  he  chose  ticelve  ivhom  also  he  named 
apostles."— Luke  vi :  12, 13  ;  Mark  iii :  13  ;  Matt,  x  :  2. 

The  choice  of  his  apostles  was  one  of  the  most 
important  steps  taken  by  our  Savior  in  the  establish- 
ment of  his  kingdom.  On  them  his  kingdom  is  to  be 
built  in  a  high  sense.  They  are  to  constitute  the  ex- 
position of  his  life,  the  organization  of  his  church, 
the  standard-bearers  of  his  elect  host ;  through  them 
his  church  is  to  receive  its  form  and  life.  They  must 
be  men  pre-eminently  iitted  for  this  great  work.  Dis- 
ciples he  had  of  various  characters,  of  different  de- 
grees of  knowledge  and  faith.  But  it  is  not  every 
disciple  that  is  iitted,  or  that  can  be  fitted  to  be  an 
apostle.  These  men  must  be  cbosen  from  the  mass  after 
a  deep  insight  into  their  capabilities  and  characters. 
Most  of  them  had  been  with  him  for  several  months, 
perhaps  for  more  than  a  year.  The  time  had  come 
when  they  must  be  set  apart  to  their  office  and  fully 
trained  for  its  momentous  responsibilities.  Precedent 
to  this,  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  inner  life  of  Christ 
himself  He  will  not  take  this  step  without  prayer. 
He  retires  alone  into  a  mountain.     It  is  night.     The 


280  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

multitudes  that  daily  thronged  his  path  are  buried  in 
sleep.  Away  from  the  eyes  of  men,  he  is  closeted 
alone  with  God.  The  stars  come  out  and  look  down 
upon  him  with  their  mild  and  tranquil  light.  All 
nature  is  hushed  into  repose.  Jesus  alone  wakes; 
Jesus  alone  prays.  Humanity,  with  all  its  sins,  its 
sorrows,  and  its  future  woe,  is  present  to  his  heart;  the 
future  of  his  church,  struo-gling  ever  like  himself 
with  hostile  inHuences ;  a  light  of  love  and  faith, 
amidst  storms  and  darkness,  is  in  his  eye.  The  disci- 
ples he  is  about  to  select  to  sustain  to  this  church 
relations  vital  and  fundamental,  pass  before  him  in 
their  history.  Their  living  testimony,  their  perils, 
their  sorrows,  their  success,  and  their  bloody  end  are 
all  before  him.  Ah!  who  shall  unfold  either  the  rap- 
ture or  the  sorrow  ;  the  purity,  the  fervor,  the  nearness 
of  that  approach  to  God,  when  the  man  Christ  Jesus 
thus  held  communion  with  the  Father.  The  silent 
stars  roll  on,  the  hours  fly  by,  and  still  the  divine 
man  is  in  heaven,  breathing  forth  his  soul  in  prayer. 
Then,  as  the  sentinels  of  night  retire,  and  the  light 
of  morn  flashes  on  snow-crowned  llermon,  and  one  by 
one  the  lesser  hills  catch  the  coming  radiance,  he 
comes  forth  wnth  a  divine  light  in  his  heart,  and  on  his 
brow  a  spiritual  radiance,  to  perform  the  duty  of  the 
hour!  Oh!  ye  who  scoft"  at  Christianity!  ye  wdio 
never  pray  !  would  that  ye  could  but  look,  for  an 
instant,  into  the  heart  of  this  sublimest  man  as  he  com- 
munes with  God.  Oh!  methinks  that  one  glance, 
but  one,  would  soften  your  stony  hearts,  would  open 
to  you  the  sad  and  fearful  state  of  him  who  never 
prays. 

Jesus    returns  to  his  disciples.      With  a  thorough 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  281 

. . . A . 

knowledge  of  their  characters  and  capacities,  he 
selects  twelve  to  be  liis  apostles.  The  number  chosen 
is  not  indifferent.  He  recognizes  in  this  the  funda- 
mental organization  of  the  Jewish  state  into  twelve 
tribes.  This  number  is  sufficient  for  the  object  in 
view;  a  larger  number  could  have  accomplished  no 
more.  It  was  a  convenient  number  for  him  to  train 
and  keep  near  his  person  and  instruct  privately. 
Double  or  thrice  the  number  would  only  have  embar- 
rassed him.  These  were  to  be  his  private  family,  and 
hence  the  limitation  of  the  number  to  suit  the  pur- 
pose. They  were  to  be  apostles — the  sent — the  mes- 
sengers of  the  Lord.  The  term  is,  in  two  or  three 
instances,  applied  to  others.  Paul,  in  his  second  epis- 
tle to  the  Corinthians,  viii :  23,  calls  the  brethren  with 
him  apostles,  your  messengers.  In  the  epistle  to  the 
Philippians,  ii :  25,  he  terms  Epaphroditus  your  mes- 
senger or  apostle.  But  with  these  exceptions  the  term 
is  applied  specially  to  denote  those  chosen  directly  by 
Christ  himself.  This  is  the  ground  on  which  Paul 
bases  his  claim  to  be  an  apostle.  He  had  been  super- 
naturally  called  and  set  apart  by  the  Savior  for  his 
Avork.  "Am  I  not  an  apostle?  Have  I  not  seen 
Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord?"  "Paul,  an  apostle  not  of 
men,  neither  by  men,  but  by  Jesus  Christ." — 1  Cor.  ix  ; 
Gal.  i:  1.  These  twelve  persons  then  are  chosen  by 
Christ  to  be  his  apostles.  A  special  responsibility  is 
at  once  laid  upon  them.  They  may  not,  at  first,  have 
realized  the  extent  of  this  responsibility  or  the  full 
character  of  the  work  they  are  to  perform.  As  yet 
they  but  imperfectly  discerned  the  true  character  of 
their  master ;  they  saw  not  yet  the  nature  of  that  king- 
24 


282  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

doni  he  was  to  establish,  and  in  the  establishment;  of 
which  they  were  to  be  most  prominent  as  his  agents. 
But  they  feel  the  responsibility  of  a  peculiar  relation- 
ship to  him  and  his  work.  They  were  chosen  for 
some  high  object,  and  this  object  would  unfold  itself  as 
time  passed  on. 

What  was  this  object.  We  gather  it  from  the  de- 
clarations of  Christ  and  his  apostles  afterward,  and 
from  the  work  they  actually  performed.  Mark  states 
]t  in  part,  yet  in  substance.  First,  he  says  that  they 
might  be  with  him.  This  implies  that  they  were  to 
constitute  his  family,  his  special  attendants,  who  were 
to  care  for  his  wants  and  keep  him  from  the  rude  con- 
tact of  the  people.  But  it  means  vastly  more  than  this. 
In  attending  Jesus  they  would  witness  all  his  mighty 
deeds,  the  outgoings  of  his  benevolence  in  works  of 
supernatural  power.  They  would  listen  to  his  public 
discourses ;  they  would  see  his  spirit  and  manner  in 
his  interviews  with  all  classes  of  the  people,  Pharisees 
and  Sadducees,  publicans  and  sinners,  devout  believers 
waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel,  and  scofMng 
scribes  waiting  to  catch  something  objectionable  from 
his  lips.  His  public  life,  his  intercourse  with  the  world, 
they  would  witness.  But  something  more  than  this 
is  contained  in  these  words.  Almost  every  man  has 
two  lives,  or  two  phases  of  life.  Before  the  public  he 
is  one  thing;  in  private  he  is  another.  He  has  a  cos- 
tume for  outdoors  which  he  puts  oS  in  the  house.  Per- 
fect transparency  of  life  is  exceptional  in  this  world. 
Men  are  not  generally  what  they  seem.  The  same  man 
who  is  the  life  of  business  and  the  social  circle,  when 
shut  up  with  a  few  individuals  for  weeks  becomes  stu- 
pid and  tiresome.       How  often  marriage  dispels  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  283 

brightness  of  antenuptial  life!  Sometimes,  indeed,  it 
reveals  hidden  excellencies  we  liardh-  suspected.  It 
is  a  common  remark  that  a  long  voyage,  where  a  few 
persons  are  tlirown  together  for  months,  gradually 
brings  out  this  inner  life,  and  it  is  only  after  this  most 
intimate  intercourse  that  all  the  aspects  of  a  person's 
character  and  his  deepest  spirit  are  revealed.  These 
chosen  ai)Ostles  were  to  be  with  Jesus  for  this  very 
purpose.  They  are  to  hold  the  most  intimate  and  cher- 
ished intercourse  with  him  under  all  circumstances,  by 
night  and  by  day,  as  he  walked  and  as'  he  rested,  sur- 
rounded by  multitudes  or  retired  from  the  woi-ld. 
Above  all  tilings  it  was  essential  that  they  should  know 
Christ.  His  nature  was  peculiar,  his  character  excep- 
tional. It  was  not  a  formal  creed  they  were  to  learn, 
but  Jesus  himself.  Kenan  has  well  said,  that  Jesus 
"did  not  preach  his  opinions,  he  preached  himself." 
He  was  their  creed.  His  nature,  his  spotless  character, 
his  words  and  acts  outflowing  from  them,  were  the 
truth  and  the  life.  Unlike  any  other  teacher,  he  taught 
them  to  know  himself.  Other  men  might  be  worse  or 
better  than  their  creed.  The  creed  might  be  true,  the 
man  false.  But  Jesus  Christ  in  his  nature  and  life  is 
the  sum  of  all  Christianit}'.  To  understand  this  nature 
and  appreciate  this  life  were  essential  to  qualify  them 
to  be  his  apostles.  They  must  be  with  him  in  intimacy 
just  as  close  as  it  was  possible  to  be  here  on  earth  ;  they 
must  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  his  spirit;  they  must 
see  the  outflashings  of  his  soul;  they  must  feel  the 
beatings  of  his  heart;  the}'  must  sit  at  his  feet  sur- 
rounded by  the  tempered  glories  of  the  divine  nature; 
they  must  have  unvailed  to  theyi  the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person; 


284  SERMONS    ON    THE 

they  must  see  all  round  this  wonderful,  iiiiiqiie  person. 
In  such  tender  intimacy,  amidst  all  the  circumstances 
of  public  and  private  life,  circumstances  at  times  try- 
ing and  fearful,  if  there  was  a  defect  they  would  see 
it;  if  there  was  a  discord  in  the  harmony  of  this  di- 
vine man  they  would  hear  it;  if  there  was  anything 
that  was  not  sincere,  real,  pure,  they  would  know  it. 
Here  in  this  same  tender,  varied,  constant  communion 
with  Jesus,  was  the  secret  of  apostolic  knowledge  and 
strength.  The  knowledge  of  himself  was  the  highest 
attainment  they  could  make.  You  recollect  how  this 
thought  is  brought  out  at  the  last  supper :  "  Philip  saith 
unfo  him,  Lord,  show  us  the  Father  and  it  sufiicfeth  us. 
Jesus  saith  unto  him.  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with 
you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip?  He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father,  and  how  sayest 
thou  then,  Show  us  the  Father !"  Was  there  ever  on 
earth  another  being  in  human  form  that  could  truth- 
fully make  such  an  assertion  and  appeal?  Oh  !  Philip, 
hast  thou  been  living  so  long  amidst  this  supernal 
brightness  and  yet  has  not  thy  dull  spirit  opened  to 
take  in  the  sublime  fact  that  in  this  Jesus  the  express 
image  of  God  in  his  infinite  perfectness  is  revealed  to 
thee  in  the  only  way  in  which  the  finite  can  see  the 
infinite?  The  time  came  when  all  this  was  clear  to 
the  amazed  disciple ;  when  all  this  treasured  knowl- 
edge of  the  life  of  Jesus  opened  itself  to  these  apostles 
in  all  its  sublime  proportions,  its  vast  significance,  its 
perfect  harmony;  when,  instinct  with  this  truth  and 
informed  with  this  life,  they  preached  an  incarnate 
God,  a  crucitied,  risen,  and  ascended  Eedeemer. 

iSText,  you  will  noti^^e  Mark  says  he  ordained  them, 
that    he   might    send    them    forth    to    preach.       To 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  285 

preach  is  to  testify,  to  declare  the" truth.  Jesus  shortly 
after  this  sent  them  forth  to  preach  in  the  towns 
and  villages  of  Israel.  But  this  preaching  was  limited 
to  the  announcement  of  the  fact  that  the  Messiah 
had  come.  It  was  little  more  than  a  repetition  of 
the  Baptist's  testimony.  They  could  not  enter  into 
the  nature  and  work  of  the  Messiah.  They  were 
as  yet  ignorant  of  that  nature  and  work.  They  were 
still  in  the  twilight.  Indeed  the  grand  facts  on  which 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  rested  were  yet  in  the  future.  It 
was  not  until  the  cycle  of  these  facts  were  comj^lete  in 
the  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  our  Lord, 
that  they  were  able  fully  to  understand  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus — the  truth  which  constitutes  the  glorious 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  Even  this  truth,  an- 
nounced to  them  by  Jesus  in  words,  they  could  not 
appreciate  until  it  became  a  fact ;  they  could  not  tes- 
tify to  it,  though  they  had  believed  it,  any  more  than 
Columbus  could  testify  to  the  existence  of  a  western 
continent,  however  strong  his  conviction  of  it,  until 
he  had  set  his  foot  upon  it.  But  the  grander  facts 
of  redemption  entered  slowly  their  minds  and  hearts 
when  Jesus  declared  them.  It  was  not  till  they  had 
witnessed  them  they  were  prepared  to  testify  to  them. 
Then  they  stood  forth  loitnesses  for  Christ.  Then  their 
real  mission  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel  commenced. 
As  witnesses  of  his  life,  his  character,  his  teachings, 
his  miracles,  his  death,  his  resurrection  and  ascension, 
twelve  men  were  better  than  twelve  hundred.  Their 
testimony  would  be  clearer,  more  definite,  more  con- 
clusive. As  tlie  preaching  witnesses  of  Christ,  they 
declared  the  truth  and  laid  the  foundations  of  that 
Church  which    now  advances  to  possess  the  world. 


286  SERMONS    ON    THE 


And  this  is  one  of  the  great  objects  for  which  they 
were  chosen.  To  these  two  objects  Mark  adds  a  third  : 
and  to  have  power  to  heal  diseases  and  cast  ont  devils. 
This  means  that  they  were  to  be  the  special  recipients 
©f  supernatural  power  to  qualify  them  for  their  work. 
This  power  was  given  them  to  a  limited  extent  during 
Christ's  life.  You  remember  how  they  returned  from 
one  of  their  preachiug  tours  with  joy  and  informed 
the  Master  of  the  miraculous  works  they  had  per- 
formed. But  all  this  was  only  to  educate  them  to  ex- 
ercise faith  in  Jesus  as  the  source  of  this  power.  And 
sometimes,  when  faith  was  weak,  their  power  was 
gone.  Then  they  ask,  "  Why  could  not  we  cast  him 
out  ?"  and  the  answer  is,  "  Oh  !  ye  of  little  faith  1" 
This  was  the  school  in  which  Christ  was  teaching 
them  confidence  in  him  as  possessed  of  divine  power. 
Step  by  step  he  was  advancing  them  in  the  knowledge 
of  himself;  day  by  day  he  was  laying  the  foundations 
of  faith  in  him  broader  and  deeper.  The  supernatural 
power  he  gave  them  was  just  sufficient  for  this  object- 
This  power  is  never  given  superfluously.  A  fearful 
responsibility  goes  with  it,  which  only  a  strong  faith 
can  sustain.  But  when  Christ's  work  was  done,  and  all 
this  preparatory  training  was  finished,  then  there  was 
given  to  them  supernatural  endowments  of  the  most 
wonderful  character.  These  were  threefold.  First 
came  a  special  mental  illumination,  the  gift  of  super- 
natural discernment,  knowledge,  and  wisdom.  You 
recollect  how  Jesus  had  promised  them,  in  view  of  his 
own  departure,  the  presence  of  the  Paraclete,  the  Com- 
forter, the  Holy  Ghost ;  how  he  had  told  them  that  this 
divine  Spirit  should  bring  all  things  he  had  taught 
them  to  their  remembrance,  and  guide  them  into  all 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  287 

truth,  Kow  this  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
promises  ever  uttered  ;  the  fulfillment  of  it  most  essen- 
tial to  the  successlul  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
Jesus.  It  is  one  of  those  parts  of  the  life  of  Christ 
which  most  men  pass  lightly  over  ;  but  it  was  in  itself 
the  very  force  that  was  necessary  to  give  form  and 
vitality  to  the  whole  scheme  in  the  minds  of  men. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  life  of  Jesus  that  brings  out 
his  prescience  and  his  power  more  luminously  than 
this  promise  and  its  fulfillment.  The  inspiration  of 
the  New  Testament  all  R[»rings  out  of  this  promise  ; 
the  earl}^  victories  of  the  truth  are  all  due  to  it.  Jesus 
would  not  have  his  apostles  commence  their  ministry 
until  they  had  received  it.  "Tarry  ye  in  Jerusalem 
until  ye  be  endued  with  power  from  on  high."  They 
were  plain  men,  uneducated  in  worldly  science.  Their 
memories  were  treacherous  ;  tjieir  views  of  truth 
fragmentary  and  imperfect.  But  when  this  super- 
natural power  rested  on  them,  then  the  thoughts,  the 
teachings,  the  works  of  Jesus  came  back  to  them  and 
ranged  themselves  in  divine  order  round  the  Savior, 
ministering  each  something  to  the  completeness  of  his 
Avisdom  and  the  object  of  his  life.  Parables,  predictions, 
mysterious  declarations  respecting  himself  and  iiis 
kingdom,  all  at  once  stood  revealed  in  a  divine  light. 
The  wondrous  scheme  of  redemption,  so  dark  before, 
and  he,  its  source  and  center,  so  mysterious  in  the 
paradoxical  union  of  attributes  divine  and  human, 
now  are  all  flooded  with  a  heavenly  radiance.  His 
birth,  his  life,  his  deatii,  his  resurrection,  are  enigmas 
no  more.  They  are  all  consistent  parts  of  the  divine 
truth  foretold  in  proiihecy,  revealed  in  Christ  as  the 
Savior  of  the  world.     Associated  with  this  endowment 


288  SERMONS    ON    THE 

was  the  gift  of  utterance.  This  had  been  specially 
promised.  Jesus  had  dechired  that  lie  would  be  to 
them  a  mouth  and  wisdom  whicli  the  adversaries 
could  not  gainsay — they  were  not  even  to  consider 
what  answer  they  would  make  when  put  on  trial  be- 
fore magistrates,  for  he  would  teach  them  in  that  hour 
what  to  say.  This  gift  of  utterance  is  wholly  distinct 
from  the  gift  of  knowledge.  Many- a  man  has  pro- 
found science  who  is  incapable  of  so  presenting  what 
he  knows  as  to  interest  and  impress  the  people.  Many 
a  lawyer  is  able  in  liis  office  but  utterly  fails  before  a 
court  and  jury.  Jeflerson  was  an  able  writer,  but  a 
miserable  speaker.  Washington  had  a  solid  judg- 
ment, but  no  power  in  utterance.  The  power  of 
speaking  impressively  demands  a  combination  of  qual- 
ities— the  right  temperament,  quick  susceptibilities  of 
emotion,  a  creative  imagination,  clear  perceptions  of 
truth  and  of  the  best  mode  of  presenting  it,  the  gift  of 
language,  and  all  these  iield  in  command,  like  well- 
trained  and  spirited  coursers,  obedient  to  the  slightest 
wish  of  the  driver.  .  And  when  this  power  is  possessed 
in  large  measure  and  is  united  with  a  clear  and  pro- 
found intelligence,  then  its  possessor  wields  a  more 
than  regal  power,  a  power  the  highest  ever  given  to 
men  ;  then  his  utterances  move  the  people,  lead  them 
on  into  action  or  knowledge,  inspire  new  ideas,  illus- 
trate the  iiistory  of  nations,  and  live  as  elements  of 
thought  and  influence  long  after  he  has  gone  from  the 
scene.  Few  such  men,  endowed  in  the  highest  degree 
with  these  associated  gifts,  have  lived  on  earth.  But 
their  names  are  written  broadly  on  the  history  of  the 
world. 

Now,  without  this  gift,  the  apostles,  with  all  their 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  289 


knowledge,  would  have  been  utterly  incompetent  for 
their  work.  They  were  to  preach  Christ  and  him 
crucilied.  They  were  to  teach  publicly  thousands. 
They  were  to  combine,  illustrate,  enforce  truths  novel, 
profound,  unheard  of,  foreign  to  all  science,  opposed 
to  the  depravities,  the  philosophies,  the  religious 
habits  and  systems  of  the  age.  It  w^as  the  pulpit,  the 
living  voice,  the  clear  utterance,  that  was  to  infuse 
the  ideas  of  the  gospel  into  the  minds  of  men.  These 
men,  inspired  with  a  new  spirit,  filled  with  the  divine 
knowledge  of  Jesus,  gifted  with  an  utterance  fitted  to 
the  thoughts  that  possessed  them,  were  to  come  in 
living  contact  with  human  souls,  stand  face  to  face 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  speak  the  truth  before 
nobles  and  peasants,  before  philosophers  and  supersti- 
tious" slaves,  before  Jews  and  pagans.  This  truth  is  to 
be  uttered,  not  as  philosophers  reasoning,  not  ditfi- 
dently,  hesitatingly,  blindly,  but  in  bold,  clear  state- 
ments, in  fervid  addresses,  with  an  intense  earnestness 
and  confidence  and  adaptation  to  these  various  classes 
befitting  the  great  salvation.  Yet  this  gi4"t  was  not 
theirs  by  nature.  They  had  not  been  trained  in  the 
schools  to  exercise  what  native  talent  they  possessed. 
But  when  the  hour  for  the  bestowment  of  this  special 
gift  came,  they  found  a  new^  power  developed  within 
them.  Tongues  of  sacred  flame  rested  on  them,  and 
no  orator,  however  gifted,  however  carefully  trained, 
ever  spake  with  such  power  as  these  fishermen  of 
Galilee.  And  thus  another  great  object  of  Jesus 
in  ordaining  them  to  be  his  apostles  w^as  accom- 
plished, and  they  became  pre-eminently  preachers  of 
his  gospel. 
25 


290  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

To  seal  all  these  endowments  and  attest  their  truth, 
and  awaken  attention  to  their  words  and  confirm  be- 
lievers, the  special  power  to  perform  supernatural 
works  directly  affecting  others,  like  the  healing  of  dis- 
eases, Avas  conferred  upon  them.  All  these  things 
prepared  them  to  be  witnesses  of  Christ,  preachers  of 
his  truth,  the  organizers  of  churches,  the  propagators 
and  defenders  of  the  faith,  the  foundations  on  which 
the  church  is  built,  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  cor- 
ner-stone. 

We  come  now  to  the  remaining  point  of  our  discus- 
sion, the  persons  chosen  to  be  apostles.  They  all  lived 
in  Galilee,  and  most  of  them  around  and  near  to  the 
sea  of  that  name.  Their  education,  was  provincial, 
their  manners  rude,  their  culture  limited,  their  habits 
simple,  their  very  speech  defective.  They  were  out- 
side of  the  literary  and  religious  center  of  the  nation. 
Galilee  was  a  name  of  reproach.  They  spoke  the 
language  of  the  time  with  a  provincial  accent.  Peter 
is  charged  with  being  a  Galilean  because  his  speech 
beti"ayed  him.  The  apostles  were  all  spoken  of  as 
unlearned  men.  None  of  them  had  sat  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel;  they  had  access  to  none  of  the  chief  sources 
of  culture.  They  were  neither  familiar  with  the  elab- 
orate legal  learning  of  the  Pharisees,  nor  with  the 
more  secular  science  of  the  Sadducees.  They  were 
neither  priests  nor  rabbis.  They  were  simply  plain, 
unlettered  countrymen.  Some  of  them,  and  of  those 
most  of  the  leading  minds,  were  fishermen.  Now 
sailors,  the  world  over,  are  remarkable  for  simplicity, 
boldness,  rudeness  of  speech  and  manners,  and  inde- 
pendence of  thought  and  action.  That  miniature 
ocean   was  the  school  for  hardy,  fresh,  self-denying 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  291 

natures,  where,  outside  of  the  schools  in  their  solitary 
avocation,  they  nourished  simple  thoughts,  and  gained 
boldness  and  independenee  in  conflict  with  the  forces 
of  nature. 

And  the  question  at  once  challenges  an  answer,  why 
did  Jesus  select  such  men  for  his  work,  instead  of 
some  of  the  masters  in  Israel  like  Xicodemus?  Why 
did  he  pass  by  the  men  of  social  and  literary  culture; 
men  familiar  with  the  whole  circle  of  Jewish  knowl- 
edge, able  in  speech,  elevated  in  position,  and  capable 
of  bringing  to  any  cause  they  might  espouse  not  only 
the  force  of  their  own  high  attainments,  but  an  influ- 
ence already  strong  in  the  nation  ?  The  answer  to 
this  question  displays,  like  all  the  other  works  and 
words  of  Jesus,  his  profound  wisdom.  What  was  his 
object  in  the  choice  of  his  apostles  ?  Was  it  to  ally  to 
himself  men  already  fllled  with  the  forms  of  a  system 
he  came  to  overthrow  ?  or  was  it  not  to  make  a  new 
creation;  to  establish  himself,  his  life,  his  words,  his 
character;  his  thoughts  in  minds  prepared  to  receive 
them  ?  They  were  to  be  witnesses  to  facts,  and  those 
facts  were  largely  in  opposition  to  the  whole  current 
of  the  theology  and  science  of  the  time.  They  were 
to  be  the  expounders  of  these  facts,  and  not  of  effete 
traditions  and  philosophical  speculations.  The}'  were 
to  be  men  of  faith,  and  he  was  to  be  the  center,  the 
substance  and  the  life  of  that  faith.  He  could  teach 
them  more  true  science  than  all  the  world  knew.  His 
object  was  to  fit  them  to  put  the  science  of  himself 
into  the  minds  of  men,  and  in  the  process  to  nullity 
and  put  away  as  useless  nine-tenths  of  what  the  world 
called -science.  And  for  this  purpose  he  must  have 
minds  simple,  fresh,  receptive  of  truth,  ready  to  re- 


2^2  SER3I0XS    OX    THE 

ceive,  bold  to  avow,  strong  in  faith,  hardy  in  maintain- 
ing it.  But  these  master-minds,  these  cultured  Jews, 
were  tilled  with  false  ideas,  and  these  ideas  impeded 
faith  and  distorted  the  tnith  he  announced.  They  were 
too  wise  in  their  own  conceits  to  come  down  to  the 
simple  love  of  a  disciple  of  Jesus.  And  when  faith 
began  it  was  so  battered  and  deadened  by  their  false 
method  of  reasoning  and  their  habits  of  resting  on 
human  traditions  that  it  had  only  a  sickly  existence. 
These,  too.  were  the  minds  that  in  their  literary  pride 
and  exclusiveness  were  deficient  in  the  humility,  the 
boldness,  the  self-deuial  which  Christ  demanded  of  his 
apostles.  See  Xicodemus  slinking  round  by  night  to 
converse  with  Jesus:  see  him  reasoning  on  his  natural 
principles  about  the  new  birth  I  Was  such  a  man, 
with  his  habits  and  timidity,  fit  to  be  an  apostle  ?  Xo. 
It  is  the  simple-hearted,  the  fresh,  untainted  natures 
in  which  Christ  must  install  himself  and  the  grand 
facts  of  his  redemption.  Using  such  agents  for  the 
establishment  of  his  Church,  he  demonstrated  its  in- 
dependence of  all  forces  save  those  animated  directly 
from  himself.  He  took  his  stand  outside  of  all  exist- 
ing organizations ;  he  borrowed  neither  light  nor 
power  from  the  existing  theologies  and  sciences ;  he 
shone  himself  as  the  true  light,  and  he  gave  his  apostles 
power  to  reflect  this  light  on  the  world. 

And  just  here  I  may  say  in  passing  that  Christ's 
method  of  advancing  his  kingdom  is  quite  analogous 
to  his  plan  in  choosing  his  apostles  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  this  kingdom.  With  rare  exceptions,  the  men 
who  have  been  most  distinguished  as  successful 
ministers  of  Christ  were  early  called  to  his  service,  be- 
fore their  habits  of  thoutrht  and  feeling  had  become  in-' 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  293 


durated  and  embarrassed  by  time.  Paul  is  taken  in  his 
youth,  when  his  passionate  nature  was  receptive  of  new 
truth  ;  when  his  cultured  mind  was  susceptible  of  new 
ideas,  and  his  whole  fervid  soul  could  take  the  im- 
pression of  the  divine  image.  And  so  all  down  the 
Church's  history  ;  the  mighty  reformers,  preachers, 
the  men  who  gave  an  impulse  to  multitudes,  were 
early  brought  under  the  power  of  divine  truth.  These 
apostles  themselves,  with  the  exception  of  Peter,  were 
still  young,  and  all  of  them  were  like  children  under 
the  influence  and  teacliing  of  their  divine  Master. 
They  were  not  the  men  to  master  a  system  of  scientific 
theology,  and  Christ  wrote  no  such  system.  But  they 
were  just  the  men  to  receive  the  full  impress  of  the 
life  and  teachings  of  the  Master:  they  were  just  the 
men  to  take  in  and  attest  the  facts  of  this  life  ;  and 
when  the  gifts  of  divine  illumination  and  utterance 
were  given  to  them,  these  were  better  fitted  than 
rabbis  and  priests  and  Gamaliel  would  have  been  to 
preach  those  grand  facts  in  all  their  simplicity. 

There  is  one  other  aspect  of  this  subject  which  in- 
dicates the  peciiliar  wisdom  of  the  choice  of  these 
men  to  be  apostles.  There  was  a  marked  diversity 
of  natural  endowments  among  them.  Some  were  pas- 
sionate and  inifietuous,  like  Peter;  some  were  profound 
and  philosophic,  like  John  ;  some  had  peculiar  exec- 
utive power,  like  James;  and  some  were  cautious  and 
prone  to  doubt,  like  Philip  and  Thomas.  Xow,  in  a 
body  of  men  who  were  to  be  the  witnesses  of  truth 
and  its  preachers,  it  was  of  great  importance  that  they 
should  not  be  all  of  the  same  stamp ;  that  diftbrent 
natures  should  receive  the  impress  of  Christ,  and  thus 
reflect  the  diflerent  aspects  of  his  character  and  life. 


294  SERMONS    ON    THE 

One  was  the  complement  of  another,  and  the  whole 
together  formed  a  perfect  representation  of  humanity 
in  its  divine  aspects.  When  such  men  testified,-  as 
they  had  seen  and  heard  Jesus,  their  testimony  is 
the  strongest,  the  most  complete  conceivable.  And 
here,  too,  we  see  the  wonderful  wisdom  of  the  Master 
in  selecting  just  such  men  to  be  the  foundation  of  his 
Church.  One  there  was,  indeed,  one  whose  dark  char- 
acter brightens  all  the  rest ;  one  of  whom  I  must  speak 
more  at  length  hereafter  ;  one,  too,  whose  remorseful 
testimony,  wrung  from  his  tortured  soul,  stands  out  as 
a  witness  for  the  immaculate  purity  of  the  Son  of  God. 
And  now,  leaving  this  course  of  thought,  look  at 
the  wonderful  contrast  exhibited  by  these  men  before 
the  crucifixion  and  after  the  ascension.  How  w^eak 
and  blind  they  are  ;  how  slow  to  take  in  the  sublime 
teachings  of  the  Master;  with  what  difficulty  faith 
rises  to  lay  hold  of  his  promises  and  predictions ;  how 
they  doubt  and  tremble  at  the  pros})ect  of  his  de])art- 
ure;  how  dim  is  that  kingdom  he  declares  is  to  come; 
how  Peter,  the  stoutest  heart  of  them  all,  can  deny 
him  in  the  Hall  of  Caiaphas.  But  look  a  little  further. 
The  day  of  Pentecost  has  come.  Who  is  that  facing 
thousands  ;  charging  home  the  guilt  of  having  cruci- 
fied the  Christ  of  God  ;  preaching  salvation  through 
his  blood  to  convicted  souls?  The  same  Peter  who, a 
few  days  ago,  denied  his  God,  with  coward  lips.  I^ow 
the  night  and  the  twilight  are  gone ;  now  the  life,  the 
words  of  Jesus  assume  their  true  position  and  glory  ; 
the  kingdom  has  come.  Henceforth  they  preach, 
they  pray  as  in  his  presence;  they  move  fearless  amidst 
all  earthly  perils.  Faith  is  triumphant,  love  is  tri- 
umphant; the  world  hears  their  voice  and  feels  a  new 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  295 


life  breathed  into'  its  dead  soul.  Churches  rise  east, 
west,  north,  and  south ;  for  Christ  is  risen,  and  Christ 
is  in  them  the  hope  of  glory.  Last  Sabbath  we  cele- 
brated the  crucifixion ;  to-day  millions  rejoice  in  the 
resurrection.  Christianity  founded  by  these  apostles, 
under  the  guidance  and  inspiration  of  their  divine  Re- 
deemer, still  lives.  It  has  encountered  fierce  antago- 
nists ;  it  has  passed  through  fearful  corruptions ;  it  has 
borne  the  burden  of  many  a  pagan  superstition  laid  on 
it  by  false  friends  to  crush  out  its  life.  It  lives  still ; 
it  has  come  forth  refined  and  pure  and  mighty  from 
all  its  conflicts.  The  burning  bush  is  not  consumed. 
The  word  of  God  is  the  same  light,  and  Jesus  is  the 
same  mighty  Redeemer.  Who  are  you  that  think  the 
scoffer's  aha!  aha!  the  skeptic's  sneer,  the  traitor's 
kiss,  the  monarch's  scepter,  the  sciolist's  science,  shall 
avail  to  brand  these  apostles  as  imposters  and  discrown 
the  Messiah  of  God?  As  well  stay  the  rushing  cur- 
rent of  the  Mississippi,  as  well  freeze  the  sun  in  its 
orbit  and  darken  its  light  forever.  The  power  that 
chose  and  trained  and  endowed  these  apostles  is  mighty 
still.  The  days  of  Pentecost  will  yet  be  renewed  ;  yea, 
even  now,  thousands  in  our  own  and  other  lands  are 
crying— What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?  Here  in  this 
house  some  of  you  arc  trembling  under  the  burden 
and  beginning  to  ask  for  Jesus  of  Calvary.  It  is  time 
you  trifled  no  longer  with  a  divine  Redeemer;  it  is 
time  you  began  to  realize  that  you  have  an  immortal 
soul  to  be  damned  or  to  be  saved;  it  is  time  you  knew 
how  terrible  a  life  of  unbelief  is  in  the  dark,  swift  ap- 
proaching future  :  it  is  time  you  ceased  to  halt  between 
two  opinions;  it  is  time  you  began  to  think  of  the 
wrath  as  well  as  of  the  mercy  of  the  Lamb,  of  the 


296  SERMONS    ON    THE 

justice  as  well  as  the  merey  of  GocL  It  is  time  you 
listened  to  that  voice  which  doomed  Capernaum  and 
Bethsaida  to  a  deeper  hell  than  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
It  is  time  you  understood  that  your  prayerless  respect- 
ability and  morality:  and  intelligence  are  preparing  you 
for  a  deeper  plunge  into  perdition.  It  is  time  you  un- 
derstood that  man's  chief  end  is  to  obey  God  and  enjoy 
Jxim  forever.  It  is  time  you  renounced  this  world  as 
your  portion,  and  as  a  penitent  sinner  opened  youF 
heart  to  Christ  as  your  only  and  all-sufficient  Savior. 
Hei'e  I  leave  you.  A  power  mightier  than  mine  must 
bring  you  into  the  kingdom  or  you  are  lost  forever. 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  297 


XVII. 

THE    APOSTLES    (nO.  2). 

"  Now  therefore  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners, 
but  fellow  citizens  with  the  saints  and  of  the  household  of 
God:  and  are  built  iipo7i  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone.''— Ephesians  ii :  19-20 ;  Matthew  xviii :  18 ;  John 
XX  :  23 ;  Rev.  xxi :  14  ;  Luke  xi :  52;  1  Pet.  ii :  5,  6. 

The  object  of  these  discussions  on  the  "  Life  of 
Christ"  has  been  to  unfold  bis  real  character,  life,  and 
work;  to  show  historically  just  what  he  was,  and  in 
the  liglit  of  facts  evince  the  superhuman,  the  divine 
character  of  Christianity  as  a  system  of  salvation.  My 
object  has  not  been  controversial.  Limiting  myself 
to  facts  admitted  by  all  who  accept  the  Bible  as  a  fully 
inspired  revelation,  whether  they  belong  to  the  Grreek, 
the  Eoman,  or  the  Protestant  Church,  I  endeavor  to 
show  how  these  facts  justify  the  faith  of  all  Christians 
in  the  divine  wisdom  and  power  of  Jesus  as  the  Re- 
deemer of  men.  The  facts  themselves  are  clear,  and 
must  be  accepted  by  all  who  claim  to  be  Christians. 
The  deductions  which  I  make  from  these  facts,  every 
man  exercising  the  true  lil)erty  of  a  rational  being  must 
judge  of  whether  or  not  they  are  just.  Early  in  the 
life  of  Christ  we  came  upon  his  choice  of  disciples ;  a 
little  later  we  tind  him  selecting  twelve  apostles. 
And  as  I  have  discoursed  to  you  on  both  these  topics. 


298  SERMONS   ON    THE 

it  seems  to  me  best  to  fiuisli  what  I  have  to  say  on 
these,  and  then  return  directly  to  the  history  of  the 
Savior.  The  position  and  work  of  the  apostles  enters 
largely  into  the  wisdom  of  Christ  in  the  establishment 
of  his  church  and  connects  itself  with  his  whole  life. 
In  my  last  discourse  I  spoke  more  particularly  of  the 
object  of  Christ  in  calling  the  twelve  apostles.  I  pro- 
pose in  this  to  show  j^ou  their  true  position  in  relation 
to  the  future  church.  In  doing  this,  it  will  be  no  dis- 
advantage to  US  to  restate  some  things  I  then  said. 

The  apostle  Paul  states,  in  the  text,  the  general  po- 
sition of  the  apostles.  Ye  are  built  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  corner-stone.  Here  you  will  notice 
three  things  :  (1.)  Christ  is  the  chief.  He  is  the  true, 
ultimate  foundation.  He  is  the  primary  authority, 
the  inspiring  and  vital  power  of  Christianity.  He  is 
■^  the  Son  in  his  own  house;  Moses,  one  of  these  proph- 
jjJ>^,  '.  ets,  is  a  servant.  He  is  the  true  builder ;  apostles  are 
jjj^^ ^  his  workmen.  He  is  the  vine  ;  apostles,  like  all  Chris- 
yfy^^  ■  tians,  are  only  branches.  He  is  the  beginner  and  Hn- 
isher  of  faith.  They  only  exercise  faith  in  him.  (2.)  The 
apostle  connects  the  prophets  with  the  apostles.  He 
does  not  join  the  priests  with  them,  but  the  prophets. 
He  teaches  these  converted  Ephesians  that  the  church 
in  the  past  and  present  is  one  ;  that  Jesus  is  vitally  re- 
lated to  it  in  all  its  history ;  that  it  has  not  grown  up 
suddenly  in  that  age,  but  that  its  roots  strike  down  far 
back  in  the  past.  And  (3.)  He  says  of  both  prophets  and 
apostles  that  they  constitute  the  foundation  on  which 
all  Christians  are  built.  !N^ow  we  know  well  what  the 
prophets  did  and  what  they  were  empowered  to  do ; 
we  know  how  thev  stood  as  witnesses  for  God;  how 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  299 

they  proclaimed  the  truth  ;  how  they  prophesied  of 
Christ;  how  they  settled  the  constitution  of  the  Jew- 
ish church ;  how  they  wrought  miracles  in  attestation 
of  their  message ;  how  they  kept  alive  the  true  faith 
in  the  midst  of  the  wild  sea  of  idolatry  that  perpetu- 
ally threatened  to  submerge  the  people  of  God.  And 
in  this  way,  as  the  repositories  and  preachers  of  divine 
truth,  especially  in  connection  with  a  coming  Messiah, 
they  laid  the  foundations  of  religion.  But  what  power 
did  the  apostles  possess  and  what  work  did  Jesus  in- 
spire them  to  do,  that  they  should  hold  to  the  church 
the  fundamental  relation  of  its  foundation? 

I.  The  apostles  were  the  confessing  witnesses  of  the 
life,  teachings,  work,  death,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  was  unquestionably  the  primary  and  essen- 
tial characteristic  of  their  offtce.  The  apostles  them- 
selves so  understood  it,  and  have  left  their  opinion  on 
record.  Shortly  after  the  resurrection,  Peter,  after  stat- 
ing the  defection  and  death  of  Judas,  says,  "  Wherefore 
of  these  men  which  have  companied  with  us  all  the 
time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  out  among  us,  be- 
ginning from  the  baptism  of  John,  unto  that  same 
day  that  he  was  taken  up  from  us,  must  one  be  or- 
dained to  be  a  witness  with  us  of  his  resurrection." 
Here  it  is  stated  as  explicitly  as  language  can  do  it, 
that  these  apostles  were  to  be  confessing  witnesses  of 
the  life,  death,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus.  The  person 
to  be  chosen  must  be  one  who  had  companied  with 
them  all  the  time  from  the  baptism  of  John.  He  must 
be  personally  cognizant  of  all  the  chief  facts  of  Christ's 
life,  and  of  his  resurrection  and  ascension  as  the  final 
seal  of  the  whole.  The  language  is  minute  and  com- 
prehensive.    He  must  have  companied  with  them  all 


300  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

the  time  of  Christ's  going  in  and  ont  among  them,  from 
the  baptism  to  the  resurrection,  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  being  able  to  give  a  personal  testimony  to  the 
whole  life  of  Christ.  The  resurrection  is  directly  men- 
tioned, because  in  that  the  work  of  redemption  cul- 
minated, and  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  was  conclu- 
sively attested  by  God  himself.  ISTow  the  importance 
of  the  apostolic  office  in  this  respect  can  not  be  over- 
rated. It  is  fundamental.  If  you  take  away  the 
apostles  as  the  confessing  witnesses  of  Christ,  you  de- 
stroy -the  very  foundations  of  Christianity.  Chris- 
tianity is,  objectively,  a  series  of  historical  facts.  In 
distinction  from  the  older  dispensations,  these  facts  are 
all  embraced  in  the  life  of  Christ.  These  facts  must 
be  made  known  to  the  Avorld  and  attested  precisely  as 
any  other  facts,  that  is  by  human  testimou}'.  It  is  not 
a  system  of  human  creation.  It  is  not  the  product  of 
human  beings.  It  is  not  a  series  of  poetic  imagina- 
tions ;  it  is  not  wrought  out  by  profound  reasoning, 
like  the  philosophy  of  Plato.  It  does  not  swing  in 
the  air.  It  has  its  roots  somewhere  ;  it  lias  its  basis 
and  anchorage  somewhere.  It  professes  to  be  a  simple 
narrative  of  one  life  ;  it  consists  of  a  series  of  facts  in 
connection  with  this  life,  the  most  remarkable,  the  most 
affecting,  and  the  most  universal  and  important  in  their 
relations  to  human  destiny  in  all  history.  These  are 
and  must  be  attested  to  the  world  by  human  testimony. 
There  is  no  other  Avay  in  which  they  could  be  made 
known  to  and  become  obligatory  on  the  faith  of  all 
men,  unless  God  should  make  a  special  revelation  to 
every  individual.  Every  argument  in  proof  of  the 
divine  mission  of  Christ  or  the  truth  of  Christianity 
presupposes  the   facts  as  attested  by  these  apostles. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  301 

The  argument  from  the  immense  vitality,  the  amazing 
progress  of  Cliristianity  in  the  face  of  tlie  deepest  cor- 
ruptions and  most  powerful  oi)position  of  our  fallen 
humanity  only  prepares  you  to  appreciate  the  facts 
attested  by  these  apostles.  The  argument,  from  the 
.nature  of  the  scriptures  themselves,  their  intrinsic 
purity,  their  sublime  views  of  God,  their  adaptation 
to  meet  the  deepest  wants  of  our  minds  and  hearts  in 
reference  to  our  salvation,  prepares  you  to  ask  the 
question  :  Whence  came  all  this ;  and  then  you  arc 
conducted  back  to  this  life  of  Jesus  as  testified  to  and 
unfolded  by  these  apostles.  The  lawyer  who  studied 
the  moral  law  was  compelled  to  ask  :  Where  did  Moses 
get  this  ?  And  the  answer  came  with  the  force  of 
demonstration  from  Moses  himself  as  the  witness : 
"  From  God."  If  you  saw  only  the  top  of  a  tree 
flourishing  in  beauty,  you  would  he  sure  it  iiad  a  trunk 
and  roots  below  it.  And  if  some  one  should  tell  you, 
"  Oh  !  that  is  all  in  your  imagination  ;"  you  would 
examine  it  and  find  trunk  and  roots.  So,  from  what- 
ever point  you  approach  Christianity,  you  are  con- 
ducted back  to  these  apostles  as  the  personal  confessing 
witnesses  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  on  their  testimony 
your  faith  must  rest. 

And  if  this  is  true  now  that  Christianity  has  a  his- 
tory and  has  accumulated  around  itself  so  many  inde- 
pendent collateral  evidences  of  its  divine  origin,  much 
more  was  it  true  when  it  commenced.  Then  all  was 
new,  strange,  hostile.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  the 
facts  were  declared ;  then  these  apostles  stood  forth 
as  personal  witnesses  of  that  which  they  aflirraed. 
There  was  no  peradventure,  no  fancy,  no  maj-  be, 
about  it.     They  spake  what  they  knew  ;  they  testified 


302  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

to  what  they  had  seen.  They  had  been  Avith  Jesus ; 
they  saw  liis  miracles ;  they  heard  his  discourses  ;  they 
saw  him  on  tlie  cross  ;  they  saw  him  after  his  resur- 
rection ;  they  witnessed  his  ascent  to  heaven  ;  they 
were  the  hving,  personal  witnesses  of  these  facts  ; 
they  were  prepared  to  stand  b}'  them  in  the  face  of 
all  perils  ;  they  did  stand  by  them  amidst  persecutions 
and  tortures,  until  most  of  them  won  a<  martyr's, 
crown. 

Here  I  wish  you  to  notice  a  broad  distinction  be- 
tween the  attestation  of  facts  and  the  attestation  of 
opinions.  Men  have  died  all  the  world  over  for  their 
opinions,  and  opinions  of  the  most  opposite  character. 
The  records  of  the  inquisition  alone  will  show  you 
thousands  of  Turks,  Jews,  and  Christians  put  to 
death  for  their  opinions.  Their  willingness  to  die 
for  their  faith  proved  the  sincerity  and  depth  of 
their  convictions,  not  the  truth  of  their  opinions. 
But  when  a  man  says  he  saw  certain  things,  and  that 
he  personally  witnessed  certain  facts  ;  when  he  main- 
tains this  testimony  in  the  face  of  loss  and  persecution, 
and  against  all  the  ordinary  motives  that  influence 
men  ;  when,  in  short,  he  will  die  rather  than  deny 
them,  then  you  have  the  highest  attainable  human 
testimony  that  these  facts  are  true,  or  that  he  is 
thoroughly  convinced  that  they  are  true.  That  these 
apostles  could  have  invented  this  life  of  Christ,  and  all 
his  wondrous  teachings,  is  utterly  incredible  on  the 
face  of  it ;  and  that  they  should  have  conspired  to  im- 
pose upon  the  world  as  facts  a  series  of  falsehoods, 
right  in  Jerusalem  itself,  and  maintain  their  imposi- 
tion in  the  face  of  terrible  persecution,  and  the  loss  of 
life  itself,  is  a  proposition  it  would   seem  hardly  pos- 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  303 

slble  for  the  most  credulous  fool  siii  ever  debauched  to 
admit  for  an  instant.  These  apostles  stood  forth  as 
confessing  witnesses  of  what  thev  had  seen  and  known. 
On  their  personal  testimony  thousands  then  believed. 
On  that  personal  witnessing  for  Christ  millions  be- 
lieved in  him.  And  thus  an  apostle  could  say  of  the 
Ephesian  Christians,  and  of  all  others,  "Ye  are  built 
on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles,  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  corner-stone." 

2.  The  apostles  were  empowered  to  declare  the  con- 
ditions of  salvation,  or  the  relations  of  Christ  to  men 
in  respect  to  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  This  power  is 
expressly  given  to  them.  John  records  the  words  of 
Christ  in  the  20th  cliapter  of  his  Gospel  :  "  And  when 
he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto 
them  :  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whosesoever  sins 
ye  remit,  the}^  are  remitted  unto  them,  and  whosesoever 
sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained." 

Some  have  supposed  that  these  words  conferred  on 
them  a  personal  power  to  forgive  sins,  such  as  Christ 
himself  possessed.  But  this  is  simply  impossible. 
God  only  can  forgive  sins.  Christ,  only  as  divine, 
exercised  this  prerogative.  This  power  in  exercise 
supposes  another  divine  power — that  of  infallibly  dis- 
cerning the  real  state  of  the  heart.  Jesus,  as  divine, 
possessed  these  attributes,  and  therefore  he  could  say, 
"  Son,  daughter,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee."  But  the 
apostles  never  assumed  this  prerogative.  They  could 
not  see  the  heart,  as  their  conduct  proved.  There  is 
not  an  instance  on  record  where  they  assumed  to  do 
this.  They  refer  everything  to  Jesus,  and  never  as- 
sume to  act  independently  of  him.  The  power  given 
to  them  is  broader,  and   has  relation   to  the   whole 


304  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

Church  they  were  to  establish.  It  was  of  infinitely 
more  importance  to  the  world  that  the  conditions  on 
which  sin  might  be  pardoned  should  be  known  than 
that  a  dozen  individuals  should  have  the  personal  power 
poAver  to  forgive  sins.  The  one  is  broad  and  universal ; 
the  other  is  contracted  and  narrow.  The  first  corre- 
sponds with  the  genius  of  Christianity,  which  is  a  relig- 
ion for  all  men;  the  other  is  even  more  limited  than 
the  old  system  of  Moses.  These  apostles  were  specially 
empowered  to  declare  the  conditions  of  salvation — to 
unfold  the  relation  of  the  life  and  death  of  Christ  to  the 
forgiveness  of  sins.  They  had  the  key  that  unlocked 
the  gates  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  stood  be- 
tween Jesus  and  the  world,  as  the  divinely  authorized 
medium  through  whom  He  and  his  truth  are  to  be 
made  known  to  men.  He  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life.  They  are  appointed  to  open  that  w^ay,  un- 
fold that  truth,  declare  that  life,  so  that  all  men  might 
walk  in  it,  embrace  it,  enjoy  it.  Jesus  himself,  so  far 
as  we  know,  never  left  a  single  written  line.  All  that 
the  world  knows  of  him  and  his  salvation  comes 
through  them.  The  truth  that  is  the  power  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation  they  declared.  The 
whole  scheme  of  redemption,  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
the  conditions  of  repentance  and  faith,  the  relation  of 
Christ  to  those  who  believe  on  him,  in  short,  the  whole 
Gospel,  in  all  its  converting,  comforting,  sanctifying, 
and  saving  power,  is  given  to  us  by  these  witnessing 
apostles.  Without  them  Jesus  would  be  unknown  to 
us;  his  life  a  secret  drama,  his  death  a  tragedy  with- 
out significance;  his  resurrection  a  story  with  no 
historic  foundation,  connections  or  meaning  to  justify 
it  to  the  faith  of  the  world.     When,  then,  the  resurrec- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  305 


tioii  had  taken  place  and  Jesus  had  ascended,  they  be- 
gan at  once  this  ministry  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin. 
They  declared  tlie  holy  character  and  life  of  Jesus,  the 
nature  of  his  death  and  resurrection,  the  guilt  of  man. 
And,  when  convicted  of  sin,  the  multitude  inquired 
what  they  should  do  to  obtain  the  remission  of  sin, 
they  did  not  say,  come  to  us  apostles  and  we  will  in- 
dividually pardon  you — but,  repent,  and  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  you  shall  be  saved.  And  thus  in  all 
their  ministry  and  their  writings  they  taught  the 
world  the  method  of  forgiveness;  they  showed  tbeni 
Christ  as  the  onl}^  and  all-sufficient  Redeemer  ;  they 
opened  to  them  the  myster}-  of  the  cross  ;  they  de- 
clared to  them  this  divine  man  living  and  dying  and 
rising  to  fulfill  the  law  in  all  its  claims  and  all  its 
penalties  in  their  stead  ;  they  unfolded  to  them  the 
truth  that  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  was  no 
remission,  and  that  Christ  had  shed  his  blood  that  God 
might  be  just  and  yet  justify  those  who  believe  in  him. 
This  was  the  way  in  which,  as  Christ's  chosen  apostles, 
they  pronounced  nmn's  sins  forgiven  or  unforgiven. 
And  this  ministry  of  theirs  has  given  us  the  gospel; 
the  truths  they  taught  under  the  inspiration  of  Christ's 
spirit  are  to-day  the  only  chart  of  salvation  for  the 
world.  He  who  receives  them  now  into  his  heart  is 
forgiven  ;  he  who  rejects  them  rejects  Jesus,  and  is 
lost  forever.  And  thus,  as  they  gave  to  the  world  the 
knowledge  of  salvation  by  Jesus,  it  is  iitly  said  of  us 
and  all  believers  that  we  are  built  on  the  foundation 
of  the  apostles,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone. 

3.  Let  us  now  advance  to  a  third  point,  peculiar  to 
26 


306  SERMONS   ON    THE 

the  apostolic  ofBce.  The  apostles  were  empowered  to 
declare  the  fundamental  principles  and  rules,  in  har- 
mony with  which  the  Church  is  to  be  constituted. 
This  power  is  given  explicitly  to  all  the  apostles  in  the 
18th  chapter  of  Matthew  and  the  18th  verse :  "  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  l)ound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  In  the 
context  the  subject  of  discipline  is  mentioned. 
There  is  no  vital  difference  of  opinion  among  Pro- 
testants or  Papists  or  Greeks  as  to  the  general  mean- 
ing of  this  passage,  whatever  there  may  be  as  to 
its  special  applications  in  the  inferences  drawn 
from  it.  The  power  is  given  in  general  terms,  and 
the  full  meaning  is  explained  by  the  acts  of  the  apos- 
tles themselves.  When  a  person  is  converted  and  his 
sins  are  forgiven  through  faith  in  Christ,  he  is  from 
that  moment  a  member  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom 
and  an  heir  of  heaven.  But  he  is  yet  imperfect.  He 
is  in  a  world  of  sense,  surrounded  by  adverse  influ- 
ences, and  in  direct  opposition  to  the  moving  influ- 
ences that  are  working  around  him.  Jesus  did  not 
mean  that  his  people  should  stand  thus  isolated,  with- 
out union,  without  the  comfort  and  the  power  that 
springs  from  the  association  of  kindred  minds.  He 
designed  they  should  associate  together  in  churches, 
and  to  this  end  that  they  should  have  common  Avor- 
ship  and  common  ordinances.  But  in  order  to  this 
they  must  have  some  common  rules  of  action,  definite 
relations  to  each  other,  and  adopt  similar  principles 
in  reference  to  the  world  without ;  they  must  have 
officers  of  certain  kinds  to  conduct  their  worship  and 
celebrate  the  ordinances  and  enforce  discipline ;  they 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  307 

must  be  able  to  act  together  in  all  ways  suitable  to 
their  own  growth  in  Christian  knowledge,  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children,  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in 
the  world.  Now  these  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the 
progress  of  the  church.  These  things  were  absolutely 
essential  to  the  editication  of  the  believers.  And  the 
apostles  were  specially  empowered  to  do  these  things. 
They  gathered  the  isolated  believers  into  individual 
bodies,  or  directed  them  so  to  unite.  They  establish 
the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 
They  direct  each  church  to  appoint  elders  and  dea- 
cons. They  give  rules  for  the  conduct  of  their  otti- 
cers.  They  declare  who  ought  to  be  admitted  to  the 
church  and  what  class  of  persons  should  be  excluded. 
They  prompt  them  to  send  out  evangelists  as  mission- 
aries to  preach  the  gospel  where  it  had  not  been  heard. 
They  take  intinite  pains  to  instruct  these  members  of 
the  church  in  their  duties  to  each  other  and  to  the 
world.  They  visit  them  in  order  to  enlighten  their 
minds  and  correct  their  errors  of  doctrine  and  prac- 
tice. The}'  write  epistles  that  are  full  of  divine  wis- 
dom on  all  these  subjects.  They  thus  covered  the 
whole  ground  of  duty  and  faith  in  these  relations  of 
Christians  one  to  another  and  to  the  world.  And 
while  they  left  the  churches  free  to  act  in  many  things 
according  to  the  necessities  of  their  position,  yet  in  all 
things  fundamental  to  the  constitution  and  action  of  a 
Christian  church,  in  all  things  essential  to  a  pure  and 
holy  life,  they  have  left  to  us  instructions  full,  clear, 
and  sufficiently  definite.  Thus  they  have  done  just 
what  Christ  empowered  them  ;  what  they  declared  to 
be  binding,  is  binding  on  us  to-day  ;  what  they  left 
free,  we  are  free  to  do  or  not,  as  circumstances   may 


308  SERMONS   ON    THE 

render  expedient.  For  us,  as  Christians  and  as 
churches,  the  authority  of  these  apostolic  utterances 
is  paramount.  We  allow  no  traditions,  no  utterances 
of  uninspired  men,  however  excellent,  to  take  their 
place.  We  are  built  on  the  foundations  of  prophets 
and  apostles,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone.  When  we  abandon  this  position,  we 
surrender  the  right  of  private  judgment,  we  put  away 
from  us  the  freedom  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us 
free,  and  the  end  must  inevitably  be  the  transfer  of 
all  authority  over  conscience  from  Christ,  speaking 
through  his  apostles,  to  an  ecclesiastical  despotism  as 
corrupt,  as  domineering,  as  selfish,  as  it  is  frail  and 
fallible. 

A  fourth  qualification  for  'the  apostolic  oflSce  was 
the  possession  of  the  supernatural  and  superhuman 
power  of  working  miracles.  This  power  was  given 
to  them  when  they  were  first  chosen,  in  a  limited  de- 
gree ;  but  at  the  day  of  Pentecost  it  was  granted  in 
larger  measure.  It  was  held  by  them  not  as  an  inde- 
pendent power,  but  in  cormection  with  their  whole 
ministry  and  in  constant  dependence  on  Christ. 
When  Peter  healed  the  lame,  impotent  man  in  the 
temple,  he  said  to  the  people:  "Ye  men  of  Israel, 
why  look  ye  so  earnestly  on  us,  as  though  by  our  own 
power  or  holiness  we  had  made  this  man  to  walk?" 
Then,  after  preaching  Christ  to  them,  and  his  resur- 
rection, of  which  they  were  witnesses,  he  adds :  "  His 
name,  through  faith  in  his  name,  hath  made  this  man 
strong."  And  in  another  case  he  says  :  "  Eneas,  Jesus 
Christ  maketh  thee  whole."  This  power  attended 
them  in  order  to  attest  their  authority  as  the  true 
witnesses  of  Jesus  Christ.     It  was  God's  seal  to  their 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  309 

apostolic  mission.  It  authorized  them,  in  the  view  of 
men,  to  fultill  their  mission  in  the  establishment  of 
the  new  kingdom  of  Jesus. 

5.  There  was  one  other  power  given  them  from  time 
to  time  in  answer  to  prayer.  It  was  the  power  of 
bestowing  the  special  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
When  many  had  been  converted  by  the  preaching  of 
Philip  in  Samaria,  the  apostles  sent  to  them  Peter  and 
John,  who,  when  they  were  come,  prayed  for  them 
that  the}'  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;  then  laid 
their  hands  on  them,  and  they  received  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Tlius  did  the  disciples  receive  gifts  of  power. 
They  came  into  the  possession  of  the  gift  of  tongues, 
of  prophecy,  of  healing;  and  they  in  turn  went  forth 
everywhere  preaching  the  gospel  and  attesting  its 
truth  by  mighty  works.  Wherever  these  apostles 
went  as  confessing  witnesses  for  Jesus,  they  were  at- 
tended by  these  divine  attestations  of  Christ's  power 
and  presence.  Thus  the  word  of  God  grew  mightily 
and  prevailed.  Thus,  amidst  a  blaze  of  light  and 
power,  the  Christian  church  was  established;  its  fun- 
damental statutes  enacted  and  adopted ;  its  solid 
foundations  were  laid  in  and  through  these  living 
servants  of  the  Lord.  Multitudes,  repenting  of  sin, 
believed  in  Jesus,  and  walked  heavenward,  sustained 
by  their  faith  in  a  risen  Redeemer. 

If  now  I  have  stated  correctly  the  chief  charac- 
teristics of  the  apostolic  office — and  I  know  of  no 
Christian  Church  that  will  not  accept  this  as  a  true 
statement — then  it  settles  the  question  whether  or  not 
the  apostles  left  behind  them  official  successors.  If 
they  were  the  personal  confessing  witnesses  of  Christ's 
resurrection,  and  so  of  his  life,  person,  and  character; 


310  SERMONS   ON    THE 

if  they  were  to  declare  the  relation  of  Christ  to  the 
salvation  of  men  ;  the  conditions  of  forgiveness  and 
^acceptance  with  God  ;  if  they  were  to  constitute  the 
Church,  prescribing  its  laws  and  rules  of  life  ;  if  to 
perform  this  they  possessed  special  endowments  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and,  to  attest  their  authority,  were  em- 
powered to  work  miracles  ;  then  it  is  impossible  they 
should  have  official  successors,  as  well  as  totally  un- 
necessary. It  was  impossible,  since  only  they  who  had 
seen  Christ  after  his  resurrection  could  bear  Avitness  to 
it.  Paul,  who  speaks  of  himself  as  an  exceptional 
case — one  born  out  of  due  time — bases  his  claims  to 
the  apostleship  not  only  on  his  miraculous  call  and 
his  special  endowment  of  gifts  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
but  also  upon  the  fact  that  he  had  personally  seen 
Christ.  It  was  unnecessary,  since  they  were  appointed 
to  be  the  foundations  of  the  Church,  and  they  did 
their  work,  fulfilled  their  office,  and  now  the  work  to 
be  done  is  not  to  lay  over  again  the  foundation,  but  to 
build  upon  it  living  stones,  a  spiritual  temple  of  holi- 
ness and  light. 

Moreover,  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  that  they 
ever  appointed  a  person  or  persons  to  succeed  them  in 
their  office.  The  only  appointment  ever  made  was  of 
one  to  succeed  Judas  in  order  to  till  up  the  original 
number.  And  even  then  the  choice  of  Matthias  was 
determined  by  lot,  and  not  by  the  apostles  themselves. 
Nor  is  there  a  single  line  or  intimation  in  all  the 
scriptures  that  it  was  the  divine  purpose  that  they 
should  have  official  successors.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  the  sacred  record  they  stand  alone  as  the 
personal  witnesses  of  Jesus,  on  whom  the  Church  is 
built.     The  only  succession  possible  is  that  of  simple 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  311 


ministers  of  Jesus,  preachers  of  his  Gospel,  elders  of 
his  Church.  In  this  sense  every  pastor,  every  elder  who 
is  true  to  his  office,  the  world  over,  is  their  successor  ; 
just  as  every  humble  Christian  man  and  woman  is  the 
successor  of  Dorcas  and  Priscilla  and  Aquila.  This 
is  the  ground  taken  almost  universally  by  the  Protes- 
tant Church  at  the  Reformation,  and  which  Arch- 
bishop Whatcly  and  Dr.  Alford,  Dean  of  Canterbury, 
have  more  recently  so  well  established.  The  apostles 
appear  l)efore  us  at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian 
Church  the  authoritative  witnesses  of  Jesus,  sealing 
tlieir  testimon}^  to  the  great  facts  of  Christianity  in 
their  blood.  For  any  man  to  claim  equality  or  x>ar- 
ticipation  with  them  in  their  official  character  is  as 
presumptuous  as  it  would  be  for  a  lark  to  claim  to  be 
an  eagle. 

Among  the  apostles  there  were  two  whose  ciiaracters 
and  works  claim  special  attention.  These  were  Peter 
and  John,  I  propose  before  closing  to  speak  a  few 
moments  of  the  character  and  position  of  the  first  of 
these.  Peter's  natural  qualities  tittcd  him  in  some 
respects  for  pre-eminence  among  his  associates.  Nur- 
tured on  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  he  was  bold  and  energetic. 
Of  great  simplicity  of  character,  he  was  destitute  of 
art  and  policy.  What  he  believed  he  held  to  with  un- 
flinching tenacity  and  avowed  with  equal  directness. 
He  moved  directly  to  his. object,  without  considering 
the  best  means  of  attaining  it.  His  perceptions  were 
quick  and  his  zeal  intense.  His  decision  and  prompt- 
ness'gave  great  force  to  his  character.  He  was  ready 
in  utterance ;  he  anticipated  others  in  action.  He  had 
neither  the  philosophic  power  of  tliought  possessed  by 
John   nor  the  clear,  profound  logic  of  Paul ;  but  he 


312  SERMONS   OX    THE 

had  those  qualities  which  at  first  make  a  deeper  im- 
pression aud  create  influence — vast  energy,  nnconquer- 
ahle  will,  a  soul  possessed  by  a  few  great  ideas,  fiery 
zeal,  and  perfect  singleness  of  purpose.  But  these  very 
qualities  were  associated  with  defects  that  sprang  out 
of  them.  His  boldness  sometimes  degenerated  into 
presumption,  and  drew  on  him  the  severest  rebuke 
Jesus  ever  administered  to  a  disciple,  "  Get  thee  be- 
hind me,  Satan  ;  thou  savorest  not  the  things  that  be 
of  God,  but  of  man."  His  self-confidence  betrayed 
him  into  sin,  and  led  the  way  to  the  denial  of  his  Lord 
in  the  hall  of  Caiaphas.  Yet  even  here  ^the  instant 
repentance  of  the  man  evinces  his  utter  sincerity  aud 
real  faith.  His  quickness  in  action  sometimes  led  him 
to  act  inconsiderately,  as  in  cutting  ofl'  the  ear  of  the 
servant ;  while  his  conduct  on  one  occasion  exposed 
him  to  the  just  censure  of  Paul.  He  was  the  third  of 
the  disciples  called  by  Jesus.  There  are  various  indi- 
cations of  the  prominence  given  to  him  by  Jesus  and 
the  apostles.  We  find  him  one  of  the  three  chosen  to 
witness  the  raising  of  the  daughter  of  Jarius ;  one  of 
the  three  who  witnessed  the  transfiguration  ;  and  one 
of  the  three  who  witnessed  the  agony  in  the  garden. 
He  is  frequently  addressed  by  Christ  as  representing 
the  apostles,  and  he  frequently  speaks  in  their  name. 
On  one  occasion,  when  the  apostles  had  returned  from 
their  first  missionary  tour,  and  Jesus  questions  them 
as  to  their  views  of  him,  Peter,  as  their  representative, 
answers,  ''  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God.'*  It  was  on  this  occasion,  and  partly  with  refer- 
ence to  the  depth  of  his  own  personal  conviction  in 
making  for  himself  and  the  others  this  confession,  that 
Jesus  uttered  those  remarkable  words :  "  Blessed  art 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  313 

tliou   Simon   Bar-Jona,  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed   it  unto  thee,   but   my   Father  -svliich   is    in 
heaven.     And  I  say  also  unto  thee,  thou  art  Peter,  and 
upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.     And  I  will  give 
unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  and 
whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound 
U)  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth, 
shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."     Here,  Peter  appears  as 
the  representative  of  the  apostles — a  confessing  wit- 
ness of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus.     This  was  the  uni- 
form interpretation  of  the  early  church.     He,  in  com- 
mon with  them,  was  to  constitute  the  foundation  on 
which  the  church  is  to  be  built.     Xor  ueed  we  deny 
that  in  this  work  he  was  to  bear  a  speciall}'  prominent 
part.     This  whole  promise  was  fultiUed  when,  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  he  first  proclaimed  the  gospel  of  his 
risen  Lord;  it  was  still  further  fulfilled  when  he  was 
chosen  to  open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  the  Gentiles 
and  admit  the  centurion  Cornelius  to  its  hopes  and 
pardons.     But  that  Peter  had  any  proper  oflicial  su- 
premacy over  the  apostles,  the  early  church  denied ; 
and  the  whole  record  shows  that  he  neither  claimed 
nor  exercised  any  such  supremacy.     For  (1)  the  same 
promise  of  power  which  is  here  addressed  to  him  was 
subsequently  addressed  to  all  the  apostles.     (2.)  Tiiere 
is  no  admission  or  intimation  of  any  such  official  su- 
premacy  to   be   found   in    the  sacred   writings.     (3.) 
When  anything  of  sj)ecial  importance  is  to  be  done, 
it  is  not  Peter,  but  the  apostles,  that  do  it.     (4.)  When 
the  judgment  of  the  synod,  assembled  to  determine 
certain  questions  touching  the  Gentiles,  is  to  be  given, 
27 


314  SERMONS    ON    THE 

Ave  find  it  is  James,  not  Peter,  who  announces  it. 
(5.)  Precisely  the  same  powers,  endowments,  and  du- 
ties are  given  to  and  imposed  upon  all  the  apostles. 
(6.)  And,  finally,  neither  Matthew,  nor  John,  nor 
James,  nor  Paul,  nor  Peter  himself,  ever  allude  to 
such  an  idea.  Paul,  on  the  contrary,  expressly  de- 
clares that  he  was  not  inferior  to  tlie  chietest  of  tlie 
apostles. 

But  if  we  should  suppose  it  to  he  true  that  Peter 
was  invested  with  some  kind  of  official  supremacy,  of 
what  vahie  would  that  be  to  the  church  unless  it  could 
be  shown  that  he  was  empowered  to  appoint  a  suc- 
cessor, and  the  world  should  be  informed  who  that 
successor  was,  and  that  Jesus  designed  tliis  succession 
should  be  perpetual  ?  Yet  on  all  these  points  there  is 
not  a  word  of  proof  in  Scripture,  The  idea  itself  did 
not  originate  until  centuries  after  Peter  had  gone 
home  to  his  rest.  God's  people  for  hundreds  of  years 
knew  nothing  of  it;  and  when  it  did  arise,  the  whole 
Eastern  Church  refused  to  admit  it,  and  have  done  so 
ever  since.  It  was  the  product  of  the  same  ambition 
that  had  made  Pome  the  capital  of  the  world,  and 
which  thence  sought  to  make  it  the  source  of  a  higher 
and  broader  authority  than  Rome  ever  knew.  Legiti- 
mately the  prince  who  rules  on  the  seven  hills  is  the 
successor  of  Cresar,  but  in  no  just  sense  of  Peter. 
Nay,  the  idea  itself  is  false  and  inconsistent  with  the 
genius  of  Cliristianity.  The  unity  of  the  church  is  in 
its  spirit,  its  doctrines,  and  its  holy  lives,  not  in  an 
outward  form  or  a  visible  head.  Everywhere  through 
the  New  Testament,  Jesus  Christ  is  the  sole  head  of 
his  kingdom.  lie  has  no  vicegerent  on  earth.  It  is 
to  him  alone  every  knee  shall  bow ;  it  is  to  him  alone 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  315 

every  tongue  sliall  confess,  thut  he  is  Lord,  to  the 
glory  of  God  the  Fatlier.  Paul,  Peter,  James,  John, 
perpetually  sink  themselves,  while  they  evermore  ex- 
alt Christ.  Peter  himself  rebukes  the  self-confidence 
and  pride  which  would  exalt  the  individual,  and  ex- 
horts the  elders,  y)utting  himself  on  their  level  as  an 
elder,  not  to  act  as  lords  over  God's  heritage.  Jesus 
is  the  only  head  of  the  body,  the  church,  and  to  him 
all  must  look  as  the  source  of  all  light,  all  pardon,  all 
salvation. 

These  apostles,  thus  chosen  and  trained  and  en- 
dowed for  their  special  work,  evince  the  profound 
wisdom  of  Jesus.  His  great  work  could  not  be  fin- 
ished until  it  had  been  attested  by  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  Then  these  disciples  stood  forth  as 
confessing  witnesses  of  his  life,  death,  and  resurrec- 
tion. Supernaturally  endowed,  the}'  proclaimed  the 
great  truths  of  redemption.  They  were  scattered 
abroad  ;  but  everywhere  they  preached  the  same  gos- 
pel. Paul  was  added  to  them  for  a  special  purpose. 
But  from  them  all  the  same  light,  the  same  grace,  the 
same  power  proceeds.  Between  them  and  the  indi- 
vidual pastors  and  writers  of  the  ages  following,  there 
is  an  amazing  diflerence.  Compared  with  the  writings 
of  the  apostles,  the  compositions  of  the  early  Christian 
fathers  are  as  the  productions  of  children.  They  stood 
alone.  They  opened  to  us  the  knowledge  of  Christ, 
the  gates  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Here  is  the 
book  they  wrote,  and  the  world  is  full  of  the  work 
they  did.  These  once  unlettered  fishermen  and  tax- 
gatherers,  in  connection  with  that  young  student  of 
Gamaliel,  laid  the  foundations  of  Christ's  kingdom 
under  the  direct  ins[»iration  of  his  spirit.     John  saw 


316  SERMONS    ON    THE 

in  vision  the  wall  of  the  holy  city,  and  it  had  twelve 
foundations,  and  in  each  foundation  was  the  name  of 
an  apostle.  We  praise  God  for  the  work  they  did ; 
we  honor  them  as  our  teachers  in  Christ,  but  we  exalt 
Christ  above  them  all  as  the  Prince  of  our  and  their 
salvation.  For  us  they  lived,  they  preached,  the}'- 
wrote,  tliey  suffered,  and  on  them  hath  Christ  built 
his  church.  Their  work  is  finished  ;  their  crowns  are 
won  ;  all  that  Jesus  promised  to  do  through  them  has 
been  done.  And  now  it  is  for  us  to  build  on  these 
foundations  of  apostles  and  prophets,  and  be  ourselves 
living  stones  in  this  glorious  temple.  Let  us  see  to  it 
we  seek  to  put  in  there  no  wood,  hay,  stubble,  to  be 
burnt  out  at  last.  Let  us  build  in  only  the  precious 
stones — souls  full  of  faith  and  love,  of  zeal  and  self- 
sacrifice.  Then  shall  we  meet  these  servants  of  our 
Lord  with  joy,  and  together  rejoice  in  Jesus  as  the 
chief  and  head  of  all. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  317 


XVIII. 

HIS   TEACHINGS.     (XO.    1).     HIS    CHARACTER  AS    A    TEACHER 
OR   PROPHET. 

'■^ Never  man  spake  like  this  man" — John  vii  :  46. 

This  was  the  answer  of  the  officers  sent  by  the  chief 
priests  and  Pharisees  to  arrest  Jesus.  There  must 
have  been  something  wonderful  in  the  appearance  and 
speech  of  Jesus,  when  officers  of  the  hiw  were  thus 
disarmed  and  powerless  in  his  presence.  But  in  the 
words  themselves  there  was  a  living  power  that  ever 
since  has  moved  the  hearts  of  men.  As  we  are  about 
to  consider  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  permit  me  in  this 
discourse  to  remark  of  liim  as  a  teacher — the  teacher 
of  the  world. 

There  were  some  things  about  the  Savior  which, 
to  those  who  saw  and  lieard  him,  made  his  teaching 
peculiarly  iujpressive.  1.  Jesus  in  his  personal  appear- 
ance must  have  been  singularly  attractive;  we  have 
no  account  of  this,  if  we  excejit  the  letter  of  Lentulus. 
The  apostles  were  too  intent  on  the  grand  thoughts  he 
uttered,  and  the  works  lie  performed,  to  record  for 
us  that  personal  appearance,  which  at  the  best  was 
transitory.  Yet  we  are  sure  that  a  noble  manhood 
expressed  itself  in  a  perfect  jdiysical  form;  that  as 
Jesus  harmonized  in  himself  tlie  forces  of  nature  and 
grace,  so  he  must  have  possessed  the  perfection  of 
manly  grace  and    beauty.     There  was  no    distortion 


318  SERMOJ^S   ON    THE 

nor  imperfection  of  form  or  feature,  but  that  namele.^s 
proportion  which  constituted  him  tlie  finest  physical 
type  of  man.  You  know  also  how  the  intellectual 
activities  and  the  inward  dispositions  of  men,  when 
long  indulged,  give  a  peculiar  csist  to  the  countenance  ; 
photograph  themselves  upon  it.  You  remember  the 
story  of  the  painter  who  portrayed  upon  his  canvass 
a  child  of  great  natural  beauty,  and  years  afterwards 
a  man  whose  countenance  expressed  all  the  base 
passions  of  the  soul  in  their  horrible  deformity.  He 
hung  them  side  by  side — innocence  contrasted  with 
vice.  And  you  remember  how  it  came  out  that  the 
child  had  grown  into  that  man.  So  avarice  early 
begun  and  long  continued  ;  so  vice  in  all  all  its  forms, 
impresses  itself  unmistakably  upon  the  countenance. 
And,  on  the  other  side,  how  amiability,  kindness,  love, 
give  a  peculiar  sweetness  to  the  countenance  ;  how 
consciousness  of  power  puts  its  impress  upon  us;  how 
devotion  to  great  and  noble  pursuits  reveals  itself,  and 
how  the  face  takes  on  thus  the  hue  and  color  and 
character  of  the  soul.  Jesus  could  have  been  no  ex- 
ception to  tliis  law.  His  matchless  purity  ;  his  inborn 
love;  his  conscious  nobility  of  nature  and  purpose; 
hisgreat  woi'k  of  redemption  ;  his  spirit  of  prayer  and 
holy  communion  with  the  Father — these  gave  a  sub- 
lime attractiveness,  of  beauty,  power,  and  love  to  his 
countenance  above  that  of  every  other  man.  This  we 
see  not.     They  saw  it,  felt  it,  knew  it. 

2.  And  then  there  is  the  eloquence  of  Jesus  ;  for 
there  is  an  eloquence  of  words — words  that  even  when 
read  in  your  closet  rouse  and  thrill  through  your  soul  ; 
and  there  is  an  eloquence  of  voice  which,  in  its  varied 
intonations  and  expressions,  acting  upon  the  nervous 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  319 


system,  kindles  or  calms,  stirs  and  moves  men.  AVliit- 
field  would  often  pronounce  the  word  eternity  in  such 
a  manner  that  it  seemed  like  the  voice  of  the  arch- 
angel summoning  the  world  to  judgment,  and  thou- 
sands who  heard  it  remembered  it  to  their  last  day. 
And  Jesus  unquestionably  spake  thus  as  never  man 
spake,  and  they  who  did  but  listen  to  that  wonderful 
voice  never  forgot  it.  We  have  in  part  his  living 
words;  they  lighten,  move,  and  bless  our  souls;  but 
the  living  voice  thnt  thrilled  alike  friends  and  foes  we 
shall  hear  not  till  we  j>ass  up  to  his  presence  chamber. 
But  leaving  these  accessory  elements  of  his  power  as 
a  teacher,  let  us  dwell  on  those  which  reveal  them- 
selves in  his  recorded  life. 

1.  One  of  the  first  things  that  impresses  you  in 
his  teachings  is  the  authority/  with  which  he  utters 
them.  God,  in  speaking  from  Sinai,  says,  "  I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God;  thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me."  This  is  the  grandest  iieight  of  authority.  Listen 
to  Jesus.  It  is  the  same  voice;  the  circumstances 
only  are  altered,  lie  is  the  divine  teacher  of  the 
world.  He  never  modifies,  qualities,  as  if  apologizing 
for  imperfections.  His  words  go  forth  as  perfect, 
direct  and  tinished  as  a  flasli  of  lightning  right  from 
the  bosom  of  God.  This  man  speaks  with  an  author- 
ity above  Scribes  and  Pbarisees,  above  all  other  men. 
Ilis  voice  is  the  voice  of  God ;  his  words  are  universal 
commands,  or  promises,  or  threatenings,  or  principles 
for  the  world's  salvation.  He  is  a  king — yea,  the 
king  of  kitigs  in  his  authoritative  utterances. 

2.  Notice  his  profound  originality.  He  copies  no 
one,  neither  in  manner,  style,  nor  method.  You  can 
not  comjiare  him  with  any  teacher  in   history.     Even 


320  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

the  richest  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  take  off 
their  crowns  and  then*  golden  vestments,  and  lay  them 
at  his  feet;  for  they  were  but  the  reflection  of  his  rays, 
while  he  is  the  full-orbed  sun.  True  originality  in 
thought  is  the  rarest  of  all  rare  things  among  men. 
We  grow  up  in  a  certain  atmosphere  of  thought;  we 
receive  suggestions,  ideas,  opinions,  from  parents, 
teachers,  books,  society,  nature.  Most  men  are  like  a 
door  swinging  backward  and  forward  on  its  hinges  in 
a  given  track  and  on  a  limited  scale,  while  the  most 
original  thinkers  are  only  cisterns  receiving  and  re- 
producing the  rain  that  has  fallen  from  the  clouds. 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  specimen  of  a  true  originality 
in  all  history.  He  is  the  self-fed,  the  self-creating 
fountain  of  all  thought.  Ideas  of  infinite  value  break 
forth  from  his  mind  in  streams  of  original  light.  This 
we  shall  see  illustrated  in  a  hundred  ways  as  we  ad- 
vance. Take  now  simply  two  specimens  of  this  fact. 
Look  at  his  conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  God 
is  the  king;  himself,  the  atoning  mediator ;  the  divine 
Spirit,  the  regenerator;  truth,  the  instrument;  souls 
renewed,  pardoned,  consecrated  to  a  living  divine  ser- 
vice and  sustained  by  his  power,  their  bodies  to  be 
raised  from  the  grave,  and  all  to  be  gathered  at  last 
into  one  heavenly  kingdom  forever.  See  this  grand 
scheme  !  How  consistent  in  all  its  parts  !  How  unique 
in  design!  How  remarkable  in  its  development! 
Where  do  you  find  anything  like  it  in  all  the  past? 
K  you  say  its  elements  are  in  the  Old  Testament,  we 
answer,  Jesus  himself  placed  them  there.  But  admit- 
ting this,  yet  here  is  the  scheme  in  its  fullness,  its  real- 
ity, its  majesty,  stripped  of  all  types  and  figures,  un- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  321 

folded  ill  its  sublime  richness  and  greatness,  and  made 
a  living  force  in  the  world. 

Then  see  how  even  the  old  becomes  new,  and  the 
obscure  becomes  clear,  in  the  mind  of  this  great  orig- 
inal, lie  takes  the  truth  right  out  of  its  earthly  asso- 
ciations and  reveals  it  in  its  naked  simplicity.  The 
old,  battered  coin,  on  which  the  superscription  is  al- 
most illegible,  he  recoins,  stamps  it  with  his  own 
image,  sends  it  forth  bright  from  the  mint  to  be  the 
spiritual  currency  of  the  world  for  all  time.  What  a 
body  of  fresh,  living,  operative  truth  he  has  issued  for 
the  guidance  of  man  evermore!  Ah!  look  which 
way  you  will  over  the  past  and  the  present,  take  in 
your  view  the  greatest,  most  original,  most  profound 
thinkers  of  the  world,  put  them  beside  him,  and  your 
verdict  will  be  the  same  with  that  of  the  ages,  never 
man  spake  like  this  man. 

3.  Another  characteristic  of  Christ  as  a  teacher  is 
his  radicalness.  This  term  is  so  used  and  abused  in 
politics  that  I  must  define  it.  A  radical  in  politics  is 
often  stigmatized  by  one  side  as  a  destructive — a  man 
reckless  of  constitutions  and  time-honored  usages.  A 
conservative  is  as  often  stigmatized,  on  the  other  side, 
as  a  conservator  of  abuses,  of  shams  and  frauds.  But 
the  true  radical  seeks  only  to  reform  abuses  and  do 
away  with  eftete  or  mischievous  laws.  The  true  con- 
servative seeks  only  to  conserve  what  is  really  good 
in  the  past.  The  one  has  his  face  forward  toward 
progress;  the  other  has  his  face  backward  toward  the 
real  and  the  true  already  gained.  In  this  sense  a  man 
may  be  both,  and  both  ideas  may  be  necessary  and 
-  both  sorts  of  people  essential  in  an  imperfect  condi- 
tion   to  make  reform  just  and   secure   real    progress. 


322  SERMONS   OX    THE 

The  Pharisees  and  priests  were  examples  of  the  con- 
servative in  the  bad  sense;  Theudas  and  the  false 
Christs  of  the  radical  in  the  same  sense.  But  Jesus 
Christ  unites  in  himself  the  best  meanins:  of  the  two. 
Yet  in  viewing  him  as  a  teacher,  in  reference  to  that 
time  and  the  world  at  large,  the  radicalness  of  his 
character  comes  chiefly  before  us.  For  (1)  he  pene- 
trates right  down  to  the  spii-it  and  heart  of  what  was 
right  and  true  in  the  old  system;  he  goes  down  to  the 
pregnant  germs  of  truth  and  takes  off  the  incumbent 
mass  of  traditional  observances  that  had  prevented 
their  full  development.  If  the  law  said,  thou  shalt 
not  kill;  he  says,  if  you  hate,  you  are  guilty  of  mur- 
der. If  the  law  said,  thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery  ; 
he  says,  if  you  look  at  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  you 
commit  adultery.  If  the  law  said,  thou  shalt  have  no 
other  God  before  me  ;  he  says,  if  a  man  love  father  or 
mother,  wife  or  children,  or  his  own  life  more  than 
me,  he  is  not  worthy  of  me.  Everywhere  he  pene- 
trates to  the  vital  spirit  of  religion,  and  stripping  oft* 
the  glosses  and  coverings  and  superstitions  of  men,  he 
brings  the  hearts  of  men  right  into  the  presence  of 
God  himself.  (2.)  Nor  is  this  all  ;  for  he  came  with 
the  express  design  of  putting  an  end  to  the  whole 
Mosaic  system— of  laying  it  aside  as  a  worn-out  gar- 
ment that  had  served  its  purj^ose  and  its  time.  The 
priesthood — the  hierarchy — the  sacritices,  the  ritual, 
the  feasts,  the  entire  national  system,  he  put  away  for- 
ever. In  this  respect  he  w^as  apparently  the  most 
radical  and  destructive  reformer  that  ever  lived.  (3.) 
But  then  all  this  was  in  order  to  the  introduction  of 
the  true  kingdom  of  God.  If  he  put  away  the  priest, 
it  was  because  henceforth    he  was  the  onlv  vriest   of 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  323 

the  new  churcli  ;  if"  he  put  away  tlie  sacrifice,  it  was 
to  substitute  liis  own  death  as  the  true,  original  Lamb 
of  God  ;  if  he  abolished  the  temple,  it  was  because  he 
as  tlie  medium  of  mercy  had  his  seat  in  the  heavens 
and  the  world  were  to  look  no  longer  to  a  sacred  place 
on  earth,  but  to  him  in  the  heavens.  If  he  put  away 
their  ritual  and  forms  of  prayer,  and  various  obser- 
vances, it  was  that  religion,  in  the  freedom  of  the  spirit 
and  the  truth,  might  go  forth  untramnieled,  and  men 
might  be  taught  to  worship  God,  not  in  forms  of  prayer, 
but  in  the  S{)ontancous  upliftings  of  the  heart — wor- 
shipping God  in  spirit  and  in  truth — and  in  doing  this, 
while  he  brought  the  okl  to  an  end,  as  having  fulfilled 
its  purpose,  he  introduced  the  most  radical  and  aggres- 
sive of  all  systems.  A  system  of  thinking,  and  feeling, 
and  action,  that  was  adapted  not  only  to  reform  the 
Jew,  but  to  i)ut  away  from  the  earth  all  other  forms 
of  religion  and  bear  aggressively  upon  the  world-spirit, 
and  world-customs,  and  world-excesses  of  life  and 
amusement,  and  time-wasting,  everywhere  and  for  all 
time.  So  that  to-day  it  is  just  as  aggressive,  just  as 
reformatory,  just  as  intent  on  uprooting  sin  in  the 
heart  and  sin  in  the  life,  as  when  he  promulgated  it. 
Here,  to-night,  if  a  man  will  love  this  world,  the  love 
of  the  Father  is  not  in  him;  if  he  will  not  renounce  all 
that  is  sinful,  he  hath  no  part  in  tlie  salvation  of  Jesus. 
And  so  here,  again,  in  tlie  thorough  radicalness  of  his 
teaching,  we  say,  "  Never  num  spake  like  this  man." 

4.  Another  characteristic  of  Christ's  teachings  is 
their  unrivalled  richness.  His  sentences  are  condensed 
expressions  of  living,  germanent  truths.  There  is  a 
wonderful  atlluence  of  meaning  in  them;  they  are  the 
seed  of  intinite  harvests  ;  they  break  forth  on  every 


324  SERMONS   01^   THE 

side  iu  exhaustless  thought.  ISTo  teacher  ever  has  be- 
gun to  approach  him  in  this  condensed  fulhiess  and 
life-producing  energy  of  his  teachings.  His  sentences 
are  volumes;  his  parngraphs  are  often  long  prophecies. 
His  principles,  stated  in  a  few  words,  are  living  truths 
that  take  possession  of  humanity,  and  move  as  powers 
of  light  through  all  after  history.  Take  any  one  of 
them  at  random — "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw- 
all  men  unto  me."  There  is  the  divinity,  the  atone- 
ment, the  life-giving  energy,  that  are  the  elemental 
powers  of  the  church  of  Jesus.  "Ye  are  the  light  of 
the  world."  Wonderful !  Obscure,  unlearned,  de- 
spised disciples;  ye  are  to  radiate  me  and  my  gospel 
through  all  coming  ages!  And  so  in  scores  and  hun- 
dreds of  passages,  you  find  tbese  thoughts  pregnant 
with  a  world  of  meaning.  Nor  are  they  dreamy  specu- 
lations; abstractions  glittering  in  the  air,  without  re- 
lations or  productive  influence  on  society.  They  are 
connected  with  the  life,  the  character,  the  success  of 
the  church  ;  they  are  all  of  life  there  is  in  the  world. 
"We  begin  to  think  out  any  one  of  them;  it  runs  out 
in  all  directions  and  opens  an  amazing  field  of  tiiougbt 
in  the  church  and  the  world — in  the  past,  present,  and 
future.  The  more  we  seek  to  enter  into  and  compass 
and  gather  up  the  richness  of  these  living  teachings, 
the  more  we  are  compelled  to  sa}^  "Never  man  spake 
like  this  man." 

5.  See,  now,  how  as  a  teacher  he  adapts  himself  to 
times,  places,  and  persons.  There  is  a  wonderful  va- 
riety in  his  manner,  and  in  the  spirit  of  his  discourse. 
He  has  an  exquisite  sense  of  the  true  proprieties  of 
life.  There  is  in  his  conduct  manifest  a  delicate  per- 
ception of  fitness,  adaptation,  and  harmony.     He  ad- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  325 

dresses  the  multitude  in  oue  strain;  tlie  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  in  another,  his  disciples  privately  in  another. 
At  times,  too,  there  is  great  gentleness,  at  times  se- 
verity, and  at  times  a  repression  of  the  impulse  to 
speak,  which  is  more  eloquent  than  words.  The  apostle 
Paul  besought  Christians  by  the  gentleness  of  Christ! 
And  you  find  this  loving  tenderness  manifested  again 
and  again  in  his  life.  What  a  deep  an<l  affecting  ten- 
derness of  feeling  revealed  itself  when  he  took  the 
little  children  in  his  arms  and  blessed  them!  Who 
can  read  his  discourses  with  his  disciples  at  the  first 
supper,  without  tears?  Who  can  see  him  seated  on 
Olivet  and  hear  him  say,  "  Oli !  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
how  often  would  I  have  gathered  your  children  to- 
gether as  a  hen  doth  her  brood  under  her  wings,  but 
ye  would  not.  Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you 
desolate!"  and  not  see  tiie  beatings  of  a  heart  of  infi- 
nite tenderness?  But  when  the  time  and  the  persons 
call  for  it,  how  dee[»  his  indignation,  how  terrible  his 
rebukes!  To  the  malignant,  murderous,  Christ-hating 
Pharisees  who  had  made  vain  the  word  of  God,  and 
were  leading  the  })eople  to  ruin,  he  says,  "Ye  serpents, 
ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  can  ye  escape  the  damna- 
tion of  hell  ?"  See,  too,  how  he  varies  his  rebukes. 
At  meat  with  another  Pharisee,  "  A  woman  which  was 
a  sinner,  brought  an  alabaster  box  of  ointment  and 
stood  at  his  feet  behind  him  weeping,  and  began  to 
wash  his  feet  with  tears  and  did  wipe  them  with  the 
hairs  of  her  head,  and  kissed  his  feet  and  anointed 
them  with  the  ointment."  Jesus  moves  not;  he  lets 
the  poor,  sinful  creature  do  her  will.  But  his  host 
said  in  his  heart,  "If  this  man  were  a  jirophet,  he 
would  have  known  who  and  what  manner  of  woman 


326  SERMONS    OX    THE 

this  is  that  toucheth  him,  for  she  is  a  siiiuer."  Then 
Jesns  puts  to  him,  with  wonderful  tact,  the  case  of  the 
creditor  and  two  debtors,  and  then,  turning  to  the  wo- 
man, he  says,  "  Simon,  seeth  thou  this  woman;  I  en- 
tered into  thine  liouse;  thou  gavest  me  no  water  for 
my  feet;  but  she  liath  washed  my  feet  with  tears  and 
wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head.  Thou  gavest 
me  no  kiss;  but  this  woman,  since  the  time  I  came  in, 
liath  uot  ceased  to  kiss  my  feet.  My  liead  with  oil 
thou  didst  uot  anoint;  but  this  woman  hath  anointed 
my  feet  witli  ointment.  Wherefore,  I  say  unto  thee,  her 
sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven  her."  What  a  scene 
is  this  for  humanity  to  look  upon  !  What  tact  in  re- 
buke, adapted  to  the  man  and  the  circumstances! 
What  gentleness  and  love  toward  the  poor  sinner! 

And  so  the  very  silence  of  Jesus  at  certain  times 
reveals  his  wisdom  and  requisite  perception  of  fitness. 
They  bring  him  a  woman  taken  in  adultery.  They 
ask  for  judgment.  These  proud  men  will  force  liim 
to  the  wall,  will  compel  him  to  sit  as  judge.  Jesus 
kneels  on  the  ground  and  in  silence  writes  on  the 
sund;  the  poor  woman  cowers  in  shame  and  agony  by 
bis  side  ;  the  haughty  Pharisees  stand  in  triumphant 
self-satisfaction.  Silent  still !  He  is  confused ;  he 
dare  not  speak !  Silent  still,  while  the  finger  slowly 
traces  something  on  the  ground.  Silent  still!  It  is 
oppressive;  what  can  he  say?  Tlien  turning  upon 
them  his  mild  searcliing  eye  that  read  their  very  souls, 
he  says,  "  He  among  you  that  is  without  sin,  let  him 
cast  the  first  stone."  Again  silence,  and  again  the 
finger  writes.  But  that  word,  the  accusation  of  a 
divine  judge,  flashes  into  their  hearts  and  flames 
through  each  conscience,  as  the  revelation  of  doom. 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  327 

Pale,  trembling,  self-condemned,  one  steals  away,  then 
another,  and  another,  till  he  is  left  alone.  Then,  with 
his  divine  calmness  and  tenderness,  he  sax^s  to  the 
woman,  "  Go,  and  sin  no  more."' 

So  when  on  trial,  he  is  speechless.  Put  under  oatli 
he  simply  dechires  his  divine  kingship,  and  that  is  all. 
He  makes  no  defense.  Ilis  silence  is  the  grandest  and 
most  eloquent  defense.  And  thus,  as  I  see  him  in  the 
adaptation  of  his  teachings  to  men  and  times,  in  the 
gentleness  and  serenity  of  his  manners,  and  even  in  his 
silence,  I  say  again,  never  man  spake  like  this  man. 

6.  Still  another  characteristic  of  Christ's  words  is 
that  the}'  all  bear  upon  the  great  object  he  had  in 
view.  Xot  a  line,  not  a  word  is  there  in  all  his  dis- 
courses, that  is  not  directly  adapted  to  establish  his 
Messiahship,  or  illustrate  truth  essential  to  the  educa- 
tion of  his  church  in  future  ages.  There  is  nothins^ 
superfluous  ;  nothing  j-ou  can  separate  from  the  living 
whole  without  marring  its  fair  {)roportions.  Parable, 
dialogue,  direct  discourse  all  converge  right  to  one 
point.  There  are  no  outside  discussions;  there  are  no 
intellectual  recreations ;  no  sportive  fancies,  or  episod- 
ical deliverances,  on  subjects  that  might  amuse  and 
interest  men  in  things  not  directly  connected  with  his 
life-work.  Open  where  you  will,  read  what  you  will, 
you  see  the  Christ  of  God  opening  the  things  of  the 
kingdom.  His  one  grand  object  is  ever  before  you. 
In  the  calm  of  private  life,  or  in  the  storm  of  contro- 
versy ;  whether  his  words  How  on  quietly,  or  dash  in 
rapids,  they  all  sweep  right  on  to  the  catastrophe  of 
death  and  the  future  church.  Magnificent — high 
above  all  earthly  teachers,  as  the  angel  standing  in  the 
sun  is  above  all  mortals,  his  utterances  are  all  streams 


328  SEEMONS   OX    THE 

of  light  to  reveal  Christ  in  God  to  the  world.  And 
between  tljis  wonderful  unity  of  his  teachings  and  his 
life  there  is  a  most  complete  and  perfect  harmony. 
Jesus  teaching  and  Jesus  acting  is  a  sublime  whole. 
The  life  illustrates  his  words,  and  his  words  illustrate 
his  life,  as  parts  of  one  great  design.  The  most  per- 
fect work  of  art,  the  finest  in  proportion,  color,  in  ex- 
pression, never  approximated  to  the  consummate  har- 
mony and  perfection  of  this  great  teacher  in  the  unity 
of  his  utterances  and  liis  life.  For  they  both  are  the 
product  of  one  spirit,  and  that  spirit  divine.  Come 
here,  ye  men  who  love  to  scan  the  beautiful,  the  good, 
and  the  true,  in  nature,  in  art,  or  in  man;  here  is 
one  who  combines  them  all  in  sublime  perfection — in 
a  unity  of  purpose  and  execution  that  stands  not  by 
itself,  as  something  for  mind  to  recreate  itself  with,  but 
that  bears  ever  on  one  grand  object,  the  regeneration 
and  redemption  of  the  immortal  soul.  Study  Jesus  of 
I^azareth,  bring  all  your  powers  and  all  your  criti- 
cisms, and  all  your  finest  rules  of  judgment,  and  test 
them  upon  his  character,  his  utterances,  and  his  life, 
and  see  if  you  will  not  join  witli  us  in  saying,  never 
man  spake  like  this  man. 

7.  And  now,  you  will  almost  anticipate  me,  in 
closing  this  imperfect  summary  of  Christ's  character 
as  a  teacher,  by  the  mention  of  his  habitual  and  intense 
earnestness.  There  is  a  living  perennial  inspiration 
of  feeling  that  pervades  and  gives  a  peculiar  character 
to  all  his  teachings.  It  is  not  passion,  fitful  and 
changeable  in  its  modes;  there  is  no  wild  excitement 
breaking  forth,  like  the  rush  of  a  tornado,  loud  and 
boisterous;  for  "  he  shall  not  cry  nor  lift  up  his  voice 
in  the  streets."     There  is  a  calmness  in   his   speech 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  329 

which  is  itself  intensely  earnest,  like  the  prodigious 
momentum  of  a  great  river,  like  the  silent  march  of 
the  orh  of  day.  There  is  an  habitual  self-control,  and 
a  constant  expression  and  holding  of  each  -emotion  in 
its  fit  jtlace,  resulting  from  the  f»crfect  harmony  of  all 
parts  of  his  spiritual  being,  and  revealing  itself  in  all 
he  utters.  But  in  it  and  through  it  there  breathes  the 
sublime  earnestness  of  a  soul  filled  with  the  most 
grand,  and  awful,  and  tender,  and  momentous  truths; 
a  soul  possessed  and  animated  hy  the  most  intense 
affections,  moving  forward  with  stead}',  unfaltering, 
irresistible  momentum,  to  the  execution  of  one  lofty 
purpose.  He  never  forgets  that  he  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God  ;  he  never  forgets  that,  in  his  life  as  the 
Son  of  Man,  future  ages  are  to  learn  the  perfection  of 
a  humanity  fashioned  according  to  God's  law;  he 
never  forgets  that  his  words  are  to  be  the  light  of  the 
world  ;  he  never  forgets  that  he  is  dealing  with  a  ruined 
race,  and  that  to  bring  them  salvation  he  speaks  and 
acts;  he  never  loses  sight  of  tlie  cross  on  which  he 
is  to  atone  for  sin,  nor  of  the  heaven  and  hell  which 
are  to  close  the  scenes  of  this  life;  eternity  is  ever 
before  him,  and  he  bears  on  his  heart,  on  his  speech 
on  l)is  acts  the  destinies  of  millions.  See  him  at  his 
interview,  as  a  youth,  with  the  doctors  in  the  temple; 
at  his  baptism,  in  the  wilderness ;  trace  out  his  life, 
his  words,  step  by  step,  in  public  and  private — in  Geth- 
semane,  on  the  cross,  and  as  he  ascends  to  heaven — 
what  sublime  earnestness  of  a  soul  tilled  to  the  brim 
with  the  idea  and  the  purpose  of  his  divine  mission 
reveals  itself  in  every  utterance,  and  impresses  itself 
upon  all  who  hear  or  study  his  teachings  !  Ah  !  never 
28 


330  SEKMONS   ON    THE 

before,  never  since,  has  another  appeared  who  gave  so 
perfectly  all  his  intellect,  all  his  mighty  heart,  all  the 
concentrated  power  of  his  will,  all  the  utterances  of 
his  lips,  alL  the  acts  of  his  life,  for  every  moment  of 
his  being,  to  the  execution  of  his  immortal,  sublime 
purpose.  Oh  !  never,  never,  in  this  respect,  was  there 
a  man  who  spake  like  this  man. 

Review,  now,  the  characteristics  of  Jesus  as  a  teacher, 
here  briefly  and  imperfectly  presented  ;  his  authority, 
his  originality,  his  radicalness,  his  unrivaled  afHuence 
and  richness  of  thought,  his  perfect  adaptation  to  times 
and  persons,  the  concentration  of  all  he  taught  on  one 
great  end,  and  his  earnestness — and  is  there  one  here  to- 
night who  will  not  sa"y,  IsTever  man  spake  like  this  man  ! 
Are  you  willing,  then,  to  sit  at  his  feet  and  accept 
him  as  your  teacher,  casting  away  all  opposing  human 
opinions?  When  he  says,  "Except  ye  be  born  again, 
ye  can  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  will  ye  ac- 
cept it?  When  he  says,  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall 
perish,"  will  ye  repent?  Wheu  he  commands  you  to 
believe  on  him  as  the  only  Savior  of  your  soul,  will 
you  do  it?  When  he  tells  you  to  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  him,  denying  yourself  daily,  will  you  con- 
sent ?  When  he  declares  that  you  must  confess  him 
before  men,  if  you  would  have  him  confess  you  before 
his  Father  in  heaven,  will  you  boldly  take  your  stand 
on  his  side  ?  Oh  !  if  Christ  is  to  be  your  teacher,  you 
must  accept  and  follow  him,  entirely  and  with  all  your 
heart.  You  can  not  skulk  into  the  kingdom  ;  you  can 
not  climb  over  the  wall  and  enter  ;  you  must  go 
through  Christ,  the  door;  you  must  let  him  take  you 
by  the  hand,  and  lead  you  ;  you  must  not  only  hear, 
but  obey.      I    set    him   before  you  to-night  as   your 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  331 

divine,  your  loving  teacher,  sjjeaking  words  to  you  of 
deathless  interest ;  revealing  your  immortal  soul,  in 
all  its  guilt  and  wretchedness,  and  himself  as  the  only 
Savior,  and  opening  up  to  you  the  issues  of  a  worldly 
and  a  Christian  life,  in  hell  and  heaven.  Oh  your  peril 
you  reject  him;  at  your  peril  you  turn  from  him  this 
once,  and  say,  I  am  not  disposed  now  to  hecome  his 
disciple.  Oh  !  that  ye  were  wise,  that  ye  understood 
where  you  stand,  and  would  consider  your  latter  end! 


332  SERMONS    ON    THE 


XIX. 

■  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  CHRIST.   (nO.  2).   THE  PARABLES. 

"  And  with  many  such  forahles  spake  he  the  ivord  unto 
them,  as  they  were  able  to  bear  itT — Mark  iv:  33,  34. 

^^ But  ivithout  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto  them;  and 
when  they  weie  alone  he  expounded  all  things  to  his  dis- 
ciples:'—Mix.it.  xiii :  34,  35. 

The  world  of  nature  is  a  store-house  of  facts.  Man 
himself  is  the  highest  fact  in  the  world  ;  a  little  world 
into  which  is  condensed  the  chief  excellence  of  the 
outer  world.  In  him  is  the  planning,  inventing,  ima- 
ginative mind  that  is  to  appropriate  the  facts  around 
him,  and  use  them  not  only  for  the  advantage  of  his 
body,  but  for  the  enlargement,  the  enrichment,  the 
delight  of  liis  soul.  Passing  by  other  things,  you  will 
notice  the  peculiar  delight  he  takes  in  the  comparison 
of  one  fact  with  another;  the  likeness  or  unlikeness 
of  one  part  of  nature  with  another;  and  how,  ascend- 
ing from  the  comparison  of  nature  witii  nature,  he 
traces  out  resemblances  in  natural  facts  with  the  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  parts,  and  exercises,  and  ideas  of 
his  higher  nature,  or  those  of  God  himself.  What 
is  purely  abstract  and  ideal,  he  loves  to  illustrate  and 
express  in  natural  facts,  and  images,  and  similitudes. 
Kay,  language  itself  is  largely  composed  of  such  physi- 
cal facts,  transformed  into  the  expression  of  spiritual 
or  intellectual  ideas.     Thus  one  word,  virtue — what  a 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  333 

world  of  spiritual  meaning  tliore  is  in  it — wliat  a 
purely  ideal  moral  princi[»le  it  expresses.  Yet  in  its 
original  it  merely  stood  for  physical  strength.  But 
men,  seeing  a  resemblance  between  the  strength  or 
force  of  body  and  the  iirm  principle,  the  lofty  sonl- 
pnrpose  that  made  man  strong  for  the  right,  took  the 
word  and  put  into  it  this  higher  meaning,  and  so  used 
it -until  its  original  idea  is  almost  lost.  To  discover 
these  resemblances,  to  express  the  obscure  by  the 
sensible,  is  an  exercise  of  mind  fascinating  to  us  all. 
The  most  popular  and  attractive  speakers  and  writers 
consult  largely  this  natural  disposition  in  man.  The 
sacred  writers  are  distinguished  for  the  use  of  figura- 
tive language.  They  range  tli rough  all  their  forms, 
isolated  and  collected.  First  we  have  metaphors,  or 
word-painting,  single  comparisons,  where  tbe  meaning 
flashes  at  once  upon  the  reader.  God  is  a  shield,  that:, 
is,  he  is  a  defense  to  those  who  trust  in  him.  Jesus 
Christ  gives  knowledge  and  infuses  life  into  the  hearts 
of  men  ;  therefore  he  is  the  sini  of  righteousness.  And 
so  iti  thousands  of  instances.  Then  we  have  "  alle- 
gory," where  some  sensible  objects  or  beings  represent 
spiritual  ideas  in  a  more  connected  form,  as  in  the 
6th  chapter  of  Revelation  the  four  horses  and  their 
riders  represent  the  judgment  of  God  upon  the  world. 
Then  we  have  fables,  in  which  animals  or  trees  and 
plants  arc  made  to  speak  as  men,  as  in  2  Chron.  xxv : 
18,  when  Joash,  King  of  Israel,  sent  to  Amaziah,  King 
of  Judah,  saying,  The  thistle  that  was  in  Lebanon  sent 
to  the  cedar  that  was  in  Lebanon,  saying,  give  thy 
daughter  to  my  son  to  wife  ;  and  there  passed  by  a 
Avild  beast  that  dwelt  in  Lebanon,  and  trode  down  the 
thistle. 


334  SERMONS    ON    THE 

And  then,  lastly,  withont  mentioning  other  simili- 
tudes, we  have  the  parable,  the  highest  of  all.  The 
parable  is  a  sensible  representation  of  what  may  be 
true  in  itself;  but  below  it  there  is  still  another 
thought.  It  is  said  to  be  "  figure  in  motion."  For 
it  is  usually  based  upon  the  actions  of  man  in  relation 
to  nature  or  to  each  other.  It  has  a  meaning  which 
is  obvious  at  once;  but  the  real  meaning  is  not  so 
obvious.  The  outward  representation  may  be  true 
in  itself;  it  must  not  violate  the  probable  ;  it  is  clear 
at  once.  But  the  great  ideas  intended  by  it  are  hidden 
within  this  sensible  representative,  as  the  meat  is 
within  the  shell  of  the  nut.  The  parables  of  the  sower, 
the  prodigal  son,  the  debtors,  will  at  once  illustrate 
these  points.  You  will  notice  also  that  the  parable 
is  something  invented,  not  discovered.  It  does  not 
flash  upon  the  mind  like  a  metaphor.  It  is  the  result 
of  profound  thought ;  it  is  one  of  the  highest  exercises 
of  the  mind.  A  shallow  or  uncultivated  people  never 
deal  in  parables.  Metaphors,  where  tlie  thought  is  in 
the  word  ;  myths,  which  are  the  unconscious  growth 
of  ages,  belong  to  the  rude ;  but  parables,  with  their 
double  meaning,  their  outward  and  their  profound 
spiritual  idea  underneath,  belong  to  minds  of  the 
highest  order.  Such  in  general  is  the  nature  of  the 
parable. 

In  this  discussion  on  the  parables  of  Jesus,  I  shall 
limit  myself  to  two  lines  of  thought.  1st,  The  general 
character  of  •  these  parables.  (1.)  One  of  the  first 
things  that  strikes  you,  as  you  read  and  study  them, 
is  their  exquisite  beauty.  They  seem  to  rise  naturally, 
as  beautiful  flowers  spring  up  in  a  good  soil  and  clear 
air.     These  are  none  of  the  artificial  works  of  mere 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  335 


rhetoric  striving  to  imitate  the  natural.  Tlie}'  break 
forth  from  tlie  mind  of  Christ  as  perfect  inspirations. 
Like  a  diamond,  they  are  all  linislied,  clear,  perfectly 
defined.  There  is  an  exquisite  propriety  and  fitness 
in  the  characters  chosen  and  their  action.  Tlie  parts 
tit  into  each  other  ;  the  details,  as  well  as  the  general 
outlines,  are  all  finished.  Everything  is  in  proportion. 
There  are  no  discordant  elements  or  excrescences. 
The  combination  of  the  whole  forms  a  picture  which 
the  artist  can  paint.  ]Many  of  them,  indeed,  have  been 
tire  subjects  of  the  ablest  pencils.  The  Prodigal  Son, 
the  Good  Shepherd,  Lazarus  at  the  gate  of  Dives,  and 
others,  you  meet  with  among  the  productions  of  our 
painters.  These  products  of  the  mind  reveal  its  char- 
acter. The  parables  of  Jesus  evince  the  clear  intellect 
from  which  the}'  sprang.  There  is  nothing  equal  to 
them,  considered  solely  as  intellectual  creations.  They 
stand  alone  in  their  combination  of  naturalness,  fitness, 
harmony,  and  appropriateness  for  the  end  in  view. 
Whatever  Jesus  touches  is  consecrated  and  exalted. 
Whatever  4ie  speaks  has  a  something  in  it,  an  unde- 
finable  beauty,  force,  fitness  or  light,  that  is  unap- 
proachable by  the  mere  unaided  human  intellect.  But 
this,  after  all,  is  a  point  of  the  least  importance.  It  is 
onl}'  the  superficies,  the  shell,  the  seeming  representa- 
tion. The  point  of  most  importance,  that  of  deepest 
interest,  that  which  most  sets  off  these  parables  from 
all  others,  and  stamps  them  with  the  divine  impress, 
is  the  subject-matter  which  lies  within  them. 

(2.)  I  call  your  attention  therefore  to  the  profound 
truths  in  these  parables.  Other  parables  respect  ordi- 
nary truths,  or  such  as  the  human  mind  can  readily 
discover;  but  these  are  no  common  truths.     Thev  are 


336  SERMONS   ON    THE 

the  most  profound  and  comprehensive  in  religion. 
They  are  most  essential  to  the  existence  and  progress 
of  true  religion  in  the  world.  The  nature  of  the 
kingdom  of  God;  the  relations  of  man  to  God  ;  the 
position  of  Christ,  and  his  future  relations  to  the 
Church,  are  here  represented.  No  metaph3'sician,  how- 
ever acute,  no  mere  human  reasoner,  ever  reached  down 
to  these  sublime  truths  in  their  fullness  and  power. 
Had  the  Savior  spoken  a  parable  respecting  the  true 
theory  of  the  universe  ;  had  he,  in  that  age,  in  the  in- 
fancy of  natural  science,  embodied  in  one  of  these 
scenic  representations  the  grand  principles  which  con- 
trol the  movements  of  this  natural  creation  far  away 
to  the  outposts  of  the  universe  ;  had  he  told  us  the 
constitution  of  suns  and  planets,  and  admitted  us  into 
the  secrets  of  God's  universal  natural  government, 
that  truth  would  not  have  been  as  profound,  as  vital  to 
man,  as  essential  to  his  immortal  interests,  as  powerful 
to  mold  his  character  and  elevate  him  in  the  scale  of 
intelligence,  as  the  least  of  those  with  respect  to  which 
these  parables  were  spoken.  But  the  greatness  and  the 
excellence  of  these  truths  will  come  out  more  fully  as 
we  proceed. 

(3.)  Look,  then,  at  the  variety  of  these  parables. 
Of  those  which  Christ  spoke,  over  thirty  have  been  re- 
corded, chiefly  by  Matthew  and  Luke.  N"o  two  of 
these  are  exactly  alike  ;  and  the  object  of  each  is  dif- 
ferent. The  central  point  is  the  kingdom  of  God; 
but  they  are  all  so  many  reflectors  of  the  different 
aspects  of  this  kingdom.  A  grand,  profound,  and  sub- 
lime, yet  most  practical  of  all  schemes  of  thought 
and  action  in  the  universe,  is  this  system.  All  parts  of 
it  can  not  be  seen  at  once,  or  from  one  side.    It  is  many- 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  337 

sided,  vast,  reaching  down   from  God  to  num.      Its 
corner-stone  is  Christ  on  earth;  its  crown  is  Christ  in 
heaven.     And    these  parables  respect  its  nature,   its 
spirit,  its  basis,  the  relations  which  God  holds  to  man 
and  the  ways  in  which   man  comes  to  God,  and  so 
ascends    from    this   present   transitory   state    to    the 
heavenly  mansion.     Take,  for  illustration,   a  few  of 
these  :  The  Mustard  Seed,  the  Leaven,  illustrate  the 
growth  of  this  kingdom;  the  power  and  moral  influ- 
ence of  truth  in  gradually  moving  the  minds  of  men. 
The  Hid  Treasure,   the  Pearl   of  Great   Price,  bring 
into  view  the  priceless  nature  of  redemption  and  the 
absolute  consecration  of  all  that  a  man  has  of  power, 
or  wealth,  or  talent,  to  obtain  it.     The  Good  Samar- 
itan opens  to  us  the  spirit  of  this  kingdom  in  reference 
to  men  in  distress.    The  Prodigal  Sou  shows  the  nature 
of  repentance,    and    divine    mercy.      The  Wise   and 
Foolish  Virgins  evince  the  difference  between   true 
and  false  professions.     The  Friend  at  Midnight  gives 
us  the  priiici[)le  of  [)rayer.    The  Wicked  Husbandman 
is  prophetic  of   the   treatment  of  Jesus.     The  Sheep 
and  the  Goats  present  the  judgment  and  the  principle 
on  which  the  hearers  of  the  gospel  will  be  judged — 
"  their  treatment  of  Christ."     It  is  astonishing  how 
strikingly  different,  yet  how  one  in  purpose  and  result, 
are  these  thirty-one  parables.     You  know  how  many 
pictures  a  photographer  will  take  of  the  same  city,  as 
he  places  his  camera  at  different  points.    Each  of  these 
pictures  will  have  its  own  character,  different  from 
the  others,  and  yet,  put  together,  they  all  unite  in  por- 
traying the  same  scene.     So,  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
has  various  points  and  principles  :  the  feelings  of  God 
29 


338  SERMONS    ON    THE 

toward  man  ;  the  work  of  Christ ;  the  method  of  ap- 
proach to  God;  the  spirit  of  the  new  life;  all  the 
great  and  precious  things  which  men  most  need  to 
know  in  order  to  understand  the  real  nature  of  this 
divine  religion  and  the  way  of  salvation,  are  brought 
out  in  these  wonderful  discourses  of  Jesus.  If  3'ou 
look  at  them,  either  in  their  separate  completeness  or 
in  their  combined  unity  ;  if  you  consider  the  immensely 
important  and  profound  principles  they  involve,  or  the 
originality  of  the  views  they  contain,  you  will  say  that 
the  world  has  never  seen  any  thing  like  them,  any 
thing  to  be  compared  with  them,  and  you  will  feel  that 
only  He  who  is  the  true  light  of  men  could  possibly 
have  spoken  them.  For  it  is  not  the  originality  and 
beauty  and  profundity  of  anyone  parable,  surpassingl}' 
excellent  as  it  may  be,  but  it  is  the  combined  unity  in 
all  this  variety,  the  concentration  of  so  many  rays  of 
light  upon  the  one  point,  the  true  nature  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  that  impresses  3'ou  most  dee[)ly,  and  makes 
you  realize  that  only  a  mind  of  infinite  scope  and  pen- 
etration and  holiness  could  have  given  such  views  to 
men,  and  lifted  them  heaven  high  above  all  other  sim- 
ilar products  of  the  human  mind. 

(4.)  In  addition  to  these  general  remarks  on  the 
character  of  tlie  parables,  I  mention  the  universality 
of  their  application.  It  is  the  tendency  of  the  human 
mind  to  localize  and  limit  whatever  it  sees  and  appre- 
hends. Even  if  it  grasps  a  great  principle,  from  its 
narrowness,  it  is  prone  to  limit  it  to  the  one  time,  the 
one  age,  the  one  people.  But  as  I  remarked  to  you  in 
speaking  of  the  direct  discourses  of  Christ,  so  here  in 
the  parables  there  are  contained  principles  of  spiritual 
thought  and  action,  limited  to  no  age,  no  people,  no 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  339 

clime;  just  as  iiiiivorsal  as  man  liimself.  Some  of 
tliem,  indeed,  on  their  face  have,  and  were  designed  to 
have,  a  local  application.  The  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  was  meant  to  illustrate  the  living,  present 
character  of  the  priests  and  Levites  of  that  time.  The 
two  sons,  the  wicked  husbandman,  were  meant  to  ap- 
ply directly  to  the  Jews  and  Gentiles — to  the  wicked 
and  murderous  Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  were  so  soon 
to  crucify  their  Messiah,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God. 
But  beneath  this  immediate  apjtlication  there  were 
great  princijiles,  which  would  characterize  other  races 
and  peoples,  the  w^orld  over,  in  their  treatment  of  the 
gospel.  To-day,  in  this  land,  you  tind  the  same  prin- 
ciples of  conduct  animating  men  in  their  conduct 
toward  the  Savior.  E^or  is  there  a  single  one  of  these 
parables  that  might  not  have  been  spoken  in  New 
York,  or  in  Utica,  as  well  as  in  Galilee  or  Jerusalem. 
They  shed  light  not  only  upon  the  kingdom  of  God, 
but  upon  the  relations  and  conduct  of  men  towards 
Jesus  Christ,  all  over  the  world.  And  when  you  put 
all  these  things  together,  the  requisite  beauty  and  fit- 
ness of  these  scenic  re[)resentations  of  the  kingdom 
of  Jesus,  the  profound  spiritual  and  universal  truths 
the}'  involve,  the  variety  in  unity,  the  combination  of 
these  various  images  to  represent  the  different  aspects 
of  the  one  living  kingdom  of  God  among  men,  then 
you  may  begin  to  appreciate  how,  here  as  elsewhere, 
Jesus  spake  as  never  man  spake. 

2.  But  leaving  this  part  of  our  subject,  I  must  hasten 
to  our  second  line — the  answer  to  the  question  of  his 
disciples,  "  Why  speakest  thou  in  parables  f  It  is  an 
obvious  fact  that  in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry  Jesus 
discoursed  directly  to  the  people.     His  language  was 


340  SERMONS    ON    THE 

indeed  full  of  metaphors  and  innages  and  brief  simili- 
tudes; but  the  thought  was  so  married  to  the  expres- 
sion as  to  flame  out  at  once  to  their  apprehension. 
Then  after  a  time  there  is  a  change.  He  speaks  so 
Lirgelj  in  parables  publicly,  that  it  is  recorded  that 
without  them  he  did  not  speak  at  all  to  the  people. 
The  change  was  so  surprising  as  to  excite  the  curiosity 
of  the  disciples  as  to  the  reason.  His  answer  is  given 
in  tJje  13th  chapter  of  Matt,  xi :  17;  Isa.  vi :  9.  In 
explanation  of  this  pact  of  our  subject,  let  us  consider, 
then,  a  few  things.  (1.)  The  parable  has  the  peculiar 
power  of  veiling  the  offensiveness  of  its  real  meaning 
so  that  it  shall  only  graduall}'  be  perceived.  Jesus,  in 
the  beginning,  spoke  plainly  and  directly.  But  it  was 
not  long,  in  spite  of  that  reserve  on  some  of  the  cap- 
ital points  of  his  doctrine,  before  the  malignant  op- 
position of  his  hearers  to  the  truth  began  to  manifest 
itself.  They  had  actually  reached  that  stage  of 
feeling  described  by  Isaiah  as  characteristic  of  the 
Jews  of  his  day.  There  was  a  fierce  and  terrible 
excitement  among  the  leaders  of  the  people.  The 
doctrines  of  Jesus,  already  enunciated  in  their  mildest 
form,  were  in  such  total  opposition  to  their  corrupt 
notions,  their  traditional  interpretations  of  the  word, 
their  rigid  formalism  ;  they  tended  so  decidedly  to  the 
overthrow  of  their  whole  superstructure  of  religion, 
that  already  their  fanaticism  had  taken  fire.  But  if 
Jesus  had  continued  thus  plainly  to  unfold  the  truth  ; 
had  he  at  once,  breaking  through  his  reserve,  declared 
tbe  whole  system  of  Christianity,  long  before  his  work 
of  educating  and  training  his  disciples  was  accom- 
plished, he  would  have  been  held  before  the  Sanhe- 
drim,   indicted,  judged,    condemned,    and    destroyed. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  341 

Ilis  character,  his  pretensions,  his  miracles,  his  words 
had  ah'eady  excited  universal  attention.  He  was  be- 
set with  spies  from  Jerusalem  ;  he  was  speaking  amidst 
the  kindlins:  fanaticism  of  a  people,  who,  when  once 
roused,  were  the  fiercest,  tlie  most  stubborn  in  all  his- 
tory— a  people  who,  in  opposition  to  Titus  at  Jerusa- 
lem, perished  by  the  million,  perished  by  their  own 
hand,  rather  than  yield.  For  Christ  to  pilot  his  way 
amidst  this  surging  sea  fortliree  years  until  his  work 
in  the  preparation  of  his  disciples  and  the  full  estab- 
lishment of  his  Messiahship  was  completed,  demanded 
superhuman  wisdom,  and  this  wisdom  he  p)ut  forth. 

In  these  circumstances  Jesus  chose  to  speak  in 
parables.  Xow  the  parable  has  this  peculiarity  ;  it 
has  two  meanings,  one  very  plain  and  simple,  and  an- 
other profound  and  real;  one,  obvious  to  all,  another 
that  requires  study  and  thought  and  reflection,  that 
even  to  the  wise  only  dawns  upon  them  gradually 
and  exercises  their  profoundcst  discrimination.  Hence 
the  maxims  of  the  old  rabbis,  that  parables  were  not 
meant  for  the  rude,  the  uncultivated.  Jesus  chose 
them  expressly  that  these  maligiiants  might  not  un- 
derstand, lie  purposely  veiled  the  truth  from  them, 
atul  explained  it  only  in  jirivate  to  his  disciples. 
These  representations  of  truth  were  wiiolly  new  to 
them.  The  i)arables  are  clear  to  us,  because  we  have 
the  kc}'  to  unlock  them — the  gospel  itself,  of  wdiich 
they  are  an  e{)itome.  But  by  them  the  deeper  mean- 
ing was  un^iereeived  ;  for  had  it  been,  the  cross  would 
have  been  anticipated  and  the  roused  fanaticism  of  the 
leaders  would  have  planted  it  ere  his  work  was  done. 
Nor  could  these  parables  have  been  the  foundation  for 
an  indictment  in  eitlier  the  civil   or  religious  courts. 


342  SERMONS   ON    THE 


The  i^lainest  and  most  terrible  in  its  meaning,  that  of 
the  wicked  husbandman,  could  not  have  been  made 
the  ground  of  condemnation,  however  his  enemies 
might  have  felt  that  in  its  deeper  view  it  meant  them 
as  the  murderers  of  the  Messiah.  Thus  you  see  how, 
in  choosing  the  parable,  Jesus  acted  with  consummate 
wisdom  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  end. 
Those  he  meant  to  see,  he  made  to  see;  those  from 
whom  he  designedly  withheld  the  truth,  saAV  not  at  all 
or  dimly  and  inferentially.  And  in  this  there  was 
divine  wisdom. 

I  have  thus  stated  to  jou  the  chief  reason,  as  given 
by  our  Savior,  for  his  use  of  parables  in  addressing 
the  people.  But  it  seems  to  me  that,  by  examining 
these  forms  of  address,  we  maj'  discover  subordinate 
reasons  for  their  employment.  One  of  these  is  the 
fact  (2)  that  they  furnished  a  fine  basis  for  the  explana- 
tion of  the  deeper  meaning,  and  fixed  that  meaning  more 
firmly  in  the  mind.  As  they  were  spoken,  they  excited 
the  greatest  curiosity  and  even  anxiety  on  the  part  of 
the  disciples  to  understand  them.  This  was  just  the 
state  of  mind  Jesus  designed  to  produce.  What  does 
it  mean?  "  Declare  unto  us  the  parable;"  and  Jesus 
then,  in  private,  proceeds  to  explain  the  hidden  mean- 
ing. Truth  after  truth,  one  aspect  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  after  another,  is  opened  to  them.  Their  inquiries 
are  answered;  their  curiosity  is  gratified.  The  circle 
of  thought  and  knowledge  is  enlarged.  Gradually 
the  light  enters,  and  as  it  enters  it  dissipates  the  dark- 
ness; error  after  error  is  dislodged;  prejudice  is  over- 
come, and  the  mind  is  accustomed  to  the  new  ways  of 
thought;  it  rises  into  a  higher  sjihere ;  the  eyes  get 
used  to  the  brightness,  and   the  whole  soul  sees  and 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  343 

grasps   more   clearly   ami   detinitely   the  great  object 
before  it. 

But  Dot  only  did  the  parable  thus  furnish  the  hap- 
piest occasion   for  the  fuller  opening  of  the  truth,  it 
served  to  fix  that  truth  more  firmly  in  the  mind.     It 
did  this  by  associating  it  with  a  visible  representjition, 
a  sensible  image  of  the  truth   itself.     You  are  all  fa- 
miliar with  the  laws  of  association  in  respect  to  mem- 
ory.    You  know  how  some  place,  some  object  that  was 
connected  with  some  conversation  you  held,  or  some 
things  you  heard,  will  recall  that  conversation  or  those 
words  years  afterward.    .What  is  called  the  science  of 
mnemonics,  or   memory,  is   based    upo!»   this   simple 
principle.      You   associate    the    name    of    Alexander 
with  a  horse — his  Bucei)halus;  Civsar  with  a  rejected 
crown;  i^apoleon  with  an  eagle;  Michael  Angelo  with 
St.  Peter's;  Christopher  Wren  with  St.  Paul's;  and 
the  thought  of  those  objects  brings  the  associated  idea 
to  min<l.     Xow  the  more  natural,  the  more  truly  like 
the  sensible  re[)resentation  is,  and  the  less  arbitrary, 
the  more  readily  it  suggests   the  thought,  the  more 
readily  the  mind  holds  the  truth  itself.     These  para- 
bles were  sensible   representations — images;  and  the 
moment  the   explanation    was  connected    with   them 
and  the  points  of  resemblance  perceived,  the  living 
thought  was  mai-ried   to  it,  fixed   there   forever.     So 
you  will  often  hear  men   recount,  twenty,  thirty  years 
after,  some  illustration  of  a  thought  they  heard  given 
b}'  a  speaker,  when   the   discourse   itself  has   utterly 
faded  from  the  memory'.     And  in  this  very  way  our 
Savior  fixed   these  higher  truths  of  his  kingdom  in 
the  minds  of  his  yet  half-enlightened  disci[iles.     They 


344  SERMONS    ON    THE 

could  not  forget  them,  unless  memory  wholly  refused 
to  do  her  office. 

(3.)  But  this  is  not  all  the  excellent  use  which  para- 
bles eflected  in  the  church  of  Christ.  They  served  to 
excite  thought  and  study,  not  only  among  the  disciples 
that  were  with  him,  but  in  all  future  time.  Of  seme 
of  them  he  gave  brief  explanations,  sufficient  to  guide 
the  mind  in  its  further  study.  Of  others  there  is  no 
recorded  explanation.  They  are  all  living,  quickening 
powers,  the  seed  corn  of  thought,  left  for  the  minds 
of  his  people  in  every  age  to  trace  out  the  various 
parts  of  the  similitude  in  tlieii-  correspondence  with 
the  nature,  progress,  and  history  of  his  kingdom. 
Some  of  them  are  prophetic,  and  reach  on  to  the  day 
of  judgment.  All  of  them  embrace  principles  to  be 
more  fully  verified  and  illustrated  in  Christian  expe- 
rience, in  God's  treatment  of  his  people  and  the  world, 
and  in  their  conduct  toward  him.  How  beautifully 
God's  mercy  is  illustrated  in  the  parable  of  the  prodi- 
gal son  ;  but  how  much  is  that  representation  clarified 
and  magnified  as  we  see  Jesus  suffering  on  the  cross, 
the  just  for  the  unjust.  The  parable  of  the  good 
Siimaritan  involves  the  true  idea  of  human  brother- 
hood and  the  necessity  of  caring  for  all  in  their  distress 
and  sorrow  ;  but  how  grandly  does  this  meaning  come 
out,  now  that  the  Jewish  nationality  is  swept  away, 
and  Jew  and  Gentile  are  placed  on  the  same  footing, 
and  the  command  of  Christ  is,  "  Go  preach  my  gospel 
to  every  creature."  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  a  mustard  seed ;"  but  how  wonderfully  does  the 
meaning  shine  out  now,  since  Christianity  has  grown 
and  spread  with  such  marvelous  rapidity.  Here,  to- 
day, as   you    study    these    parables,   how    the  varied 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  345 


aspects  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus,  tlie  methods  of  its 
progress,  tlie  difficulties  in  its  wny  ;  the  signal  facts 
in  its  history,  the  principles  of  its  future  growth,  come 
forth  into  still  clearer  light.  All  men  deh'ght  to  read 
them  ;  children  are  attracted  by  them,  and  Christians 
find  in  them  a  store  of  heavenly  wisdom,  and  rejoice 
to  see  there  new  correspondencies  with  truth,  and 
nature,  and  experience.  Thus  the  parables  of  Jesus 
not  only  served  to  i)resent  and  yet  veil  the  truth  from 
the  malignant  i>erseciitors  of  his  own  age,  but  they 
also  served  as  the  basis  on  which  he  founded  the  ex- 
planation of  their  deeper  meaning  to  his  own  disciples  ; 
by  which  he  fixed  the  truth  in  their  minds;  through 
which  he  quickens  the  mind  of  his  people  in  all  ages 
to  clearer  thought,  and  so  enriches  their  minds  and 
establishes  their  souls  in  the  fuller  understanding  of 
the  nature  and  progress  and  future  of  his  glorious 
kingdom.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  his  divine,  all-compre- 
hensive wisdom  signally  shines  forth.  So  remarkable, 
^so  resplendent,  so  divine,  are  these  parables,  that  er- 
rorists  and  infidels,  in  despair  of  imitating  them,  have 
turned  themselves  to  other  methods,  more  in  the  com- 
pass of  the  natural  reason,  in  order  to  alter  or  under- 
mine the  truth  of  God. 

rerha[)s  now,  before  I  pass  to  some  concluding  ob- 
servations, I  ought  to  mention  the  fact,  that  some  of 
our  ablest  commentators  have  endeavored  to  trace  out 
a  peculiar  progress  of  thought  in  these  parables.  It  is 
said  that  Jesus  spake  them  to  his  disciples  as  they 
were  able  to  bear  them,  able  to  receive  the  truth  con- 
tained in  them,  prepared  to  enter  in  and  appreciate 
their  full  meaning.  Thus  we  have  given  us  three  cy- 
cles of  parables.     The  first  eight  begins  with  the  Sower 


346  SERMONS   ON    THE 


and  ends  with  the  Net  cast  into  the  Sea.  These  are  all 
taken  from  the  world  of  nature,  and  respect  more 
especially  the  nature  of  the  kingdom.  Then,  after  an 
interval,  comes  another  style  of  parable,  drawMi  not  so 
much  from  nature  as  from  tl)e  life  of  man.  They  are 
sixteen  in  nil,  beginning  with  the  Two  Debtors  and 
ending  with  the  Laborers  in  the  Vineyard.  But  when 
we  reach  the  closing  period  of  his  ministry,  they  assume 
still  another  character.  They  are  taken,  indeed,  from 
the  world  of  nature,  but  they  relate  chiefly  to  the  final 
consummation  of  the  kingdom.  In  part  they  are  pro- 
phetic ;  but  in  all  the  end  is  seen  in  the  distance;  the 
summons  is  heard  to  judgment;  the  clock  is  striking 
toward  the  midnight  hour.  They  are  seven  in  num- 
ber, beginning  with  the  parable  of  the  Pounds  and 
closing  with  the  most  fearful  of  them  all,  the  Sheep 
and  the  Goats — the  final  scene  of  judgment. 

Such,  as  I  have  had  time  to  speak  of  them  in  gen- 
eral, are  the  parables,  and  such  the  reason  of  their 
use.  Such  is  Jesus  as  he  taught  in  parables — taught, 
not  only  for  that  age,  but  all  ages;  not  only  for  his 
immediate  disciples,  but  his  followers  in  all  the  future. 
In  form  they  are  unrivaled  in  beauty  and  fitness;  in 
the  profound  truths  they  involve,  they  are  sublime, 
they  are  divine.  History,  prophecy,  and  the  deep 
truths  of  his  kingdom,  are  hei"e  for  us  to  study,  to 
understand,  and  to  appropriate  as  our  guide  and  stim- 
ulus to  thought  and  action.  If  ye  have  eyes  to  see, 
see  ye;  if  ye  have  ears  to  hear,  hear  ye  !  What  a  ter- 
rible conditioti  of  maligiumcy  and  hate  was  that  which 
led  Jesus  to  speak  in  parables,  which  conjpelled  the 
divine  Son  to  veil  the  truth  from  them  in  order  to 
establish  his  kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  his  disciples  ? 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  347 


Oh  !  hate  most  malignant ;  oh  !  depravity  most  foul, 
which  doubted,  denied,  mocked,  hounded,  cursed  the 
Redeemer,  and  reached  its  horrible  consummation 
when  he  hung  on  the  cross  !  Oh  !  man,  what  art  thou, 
in  thy  state  of  nature,  but  a  demon,  a  iiend,  to  bear 
such  fruits  of  sin — to  cast  the  Son,  tlie  heir,  out  of  his 
inheritance,  and  dye  they  hands  in  his  blood  !  Well, 
that  fearful  vision  is  past;  that  terrible  scene  is  a  fact 
in  history  eighteen  hundred  years  old.  Man  has  im- 
proved ;  he  has  studied  natural  science;  he  has  put  on 
another  nature  ;  tiie  wolf  is  a  lamb  now,  the  tiger  is  a 
peaceful  deer!!  Hear  ye,  then,  who  have  ears  to 
hear!  Christ  is  dead;  Christ  is  risen;  Christ  is  as- 
cended. His  Church  lives.  Millions  love  him  and 
would  die  for  him  to-day.  Along  this  history  are 
miracles  of  healing,  of  love,  of  renovation,  of  faith. 
All  that  is  pure  and  good  and  meet  for  heaven  in  this 
world,  his  hand  created.  Prophecy  is  fulfilled,  is  ful- 
filling on  every  side.  Hear  ye?  Do  you  believe?  Do 
you  accept  this  Christ  as  your  Redeemer?  Are  you 
one  of  God's  Httle  children  ?  Are  you  willing  to  deny 
yourself,  and  take  up  your  cross  and  follow  him  ?  Are 
you  a  repentant  sinner,  living  by  faith  in  Jesus,  and 
ready  to  give  all  and  hazard  all  for  his  kingdom  and 
crown?  Have  your  eyes  been  open  to  sec,  your  ears 
to  hear,  the  truth  he  speaks  from  day  to  day  and  Sab- 
bath to  Sabbath  ?  Alas  !  there  are  those  wlio  can  read 
the  last  parable,  the  representation  of  judgment,  and 
mock  at  the  awful  truth.  Is  there  one  here  to-night 
from  whom  the  truth  is  hidden — hidden  because  they 
are  lost?  I'upils,  sons  t)f  Herod  and  Caiaphas?  Or, 
if  you  regret  this  devilish  paternity,  whose  sons  are 
you?    Is  Agrippa  your  father?    Do  you  say,  "  Almost, 


348  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian  ?"  Is  Pontius 
Pilate  your  father  ?  Scornful  skeptic,  asking  what  is 
truth,  at  this  day  of  light !  Are  you  for  Christ,  or 
against  him?  Decide  now.  The  summer  is  over  and 
gone  ;  the  leaves  are  falling,  fading  ;  winter  is  coming. 
Is  it  so  with  you  ?  Must  you  say,  The  harvest  is  past; 
the  summer  is  ended  ;  and  we  are  not  saved  ? 


1-^. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  349 


XX. 

HIS  TEACHINGS  (nO.  3) — HIS  CONVERSATIONAL    DISCOURSES. 

"  There  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees  named  Nicodemus, 
a  ruler  of  the  Jews.  The  same  came  to  Jesus  by  night, 
and  said  unto  him,  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher 
come  from.  God;  for  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that 
thou  hast  done,  except  God  be  ivith  him." — John  iii :  1,  2. 

"  The  officers  answered.  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man." — John  vii :  46. 

"  And  no  man  was  able  to  answer  him  a  word;  neither 
durst  any  man,  from  that  day  forth,  ask  him  any  more 
questions." — Mat.  xxii :  46. 

In  addressing  you  on  Christ  as  a  teacher,  I  have 
spoken  on  his  teaching  in  didactic  discourse,  on  his 
teaching  in  parables,  and  to-night  we  are  to  view  him 
as  teaching  in  conversational  discourse.  This  is  the 
most  natural,  and  consequently  the  most  ancient  form 
of  instruction.  It  is  informal,  social,  admitting  of 
question  and  answer,  and  for  this  reason  brings  the 
mind  of  the  teacher  and  scholar  in  more  direct  contact. 
The  ancients  very  largel}^  followed  this  method.  Socra- 
tes, Plato,  Aristotle,  employed  it.  Demosthenes  was 
a  great  orator,  with  power  to  move  and  enlighten  a 
multitude  on  common  topics.  But  the  profoundest 
teachers  were  not  orators,  and  took  a  more  direct  and 
informal  mode  of  inculcating  great  principles.  Cicero 
was  a  remarkable  orator;  but  in   some  of  his  ablest 


350  SERMOXS    ox    THE 

works  he  has  resorted  to  the  dialogue  as  best  iitted  to 
bring  out  his  ideas  and  enforce  them.  At  the  time  of 
the  Frencii  revolution,  there  were  great  orators  like 
Mirabeau,  and  able  writers  like  Diderot  and  Rousseau  ; 
but  in  their  salons  there  were  a  greater  number  of 
bright,  witty,  thoughtful  conversationalists  who  ex- 
erted a  vast  influence  on  the  society  of  that  day.  And 
with  us  some  like  Jefferson  have  exerted  their  chief 
power  in  conversation,  wliile  our  confessedly  ablest 
teachers  most  generally  employ  this  method.  Our 
Savior,  while  freely  employing  the  other  modes  of 
instruction — didactic  discourse  and  parables — yet 
largely  adopts  this  method.  Indeed,  the  necessities 
of  his  position  compelled  him  to  this  course.  It  was 
necessary  not  merely  in  reference  to  his  disciples,  with 
whom  he  conversed  in  private,  but  also  to  meet  the 
popular  or  more  abstruse  difficulties  of  the  people  and 
the  learned.  Here  he  demonstrates  the  same  unques- 
tioned superiority,  the  same  affluence  of  resources, 
which  characterize  all  his  other  teachings.  He  came 
in  contact  with  the  ablest  minds  of  tliat  nation,  and 
swept  away  their  profoundest  objections.  They  were 
as  children  before  him,  as  farthing  candles  in  presence 
of  the  sun. 

In  order  to  appreciate  his  teaching  in  this  line,  we 
must  notice:  1.  The  different  classes  of  persons  to 
wiiom  he  spoke  and  the  consummate  wisdom  with 
which  he  adapted  iiimsclf  to  their  characters  and 
wants.  One  of  these  classes  was  the  sincere  inquirers 
— men  whose  desire  was  to  know  the  truth.  Such 
were  his  immediate  disciples,  and  persons  like  Nico- 
denius  among  the  more  intelligent.  To  these  he 
spoke  quietly,  and  unfolded  the  truth  more  at   length 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  351 

tluiii  lie  (lid  to  the  public.  He  adapted  himself  and 
liis  instructions  to  their  peculiar  characters  and  wants. 
He  is  tender,  yet  commanding;  familiar,  yet  full  of 
unspeakable  dignity.  A  second  class  was  the  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees.  Those,  full  of  the  conceit  of  their 
own  wisdom,  with  no  sympathy  for  the  truth,  were 
intent,  not  at  all  on  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  but 
on  justifying  their  opposition  to  his  claims  as  Messiah, 
ot)  criticising  his  language,  detecting  some  falsity  or 
error  in  his  annunciations,  and  especially  did  they 
conspire  to  Avring  from  him  something,  some  exf)res- 
sion  tliat  miijht  be  made  the  ground  of  accusation 
and  condemnation  before  the  Sanhedrim.  For  this 
purpose  they  raise  questions  that  might  involve  him 
in  difficulty  with  the  civil  powers  as  well  as  the  eccle- 
siastical. They  follow  him  with  all  the  stealth  and 
cunning  of  an  Indian  hunt'.ng  a  foe.  Understanding 
fully  their  character  and  pui-pose,  his  answers  to  their 
questions  are  generally  very  short  and  decided.  Pen- 
etrating at  once  their  disguised  hostility,  he  does  not 
hesitate  to  tear  the  masks  from  their  faces  and  de- 
nounce them  as  serpents,  a  generation  of  vipers. 
He  never  parleys  with  them,  nor  jilays  with  them,  v  'V 
nor  exhibits  the  least  color  of  friendship^  n^ip^holds 
them  oft"  at  arm's  length  and  stiikes  them  down  with 
fearful  energy.  His  holy  nature,  his  abhorrence  of 
h3'pocrisy,  of  their  malignant  opposition  to  the  truth, 
of  their  wicked  influence  over  the  people  and  their 
bloody  spirit  towards  himself  as  the  Son  of  God, 
breaks  forth  upon  them.  They  were  not  to  be  propi- 
tiated ;  neither  innocence,  nor  nuracles,  nor  the  clearest 
manifestation  of  divine  truth,  affected  their  hearts.  It 
was  for  Jesus  to  silence  them  by  his  superior  wisdom 


352  SERMONS   ON    THE 

aud  exhibit  their  true  characters  as  blind  leaders  of 
the  blind.  A  third  class  was  the  mixed  multitude, 
some  half-enlightened,  many  rude  and  ignorant;  all 
variable,  unsettled,  largely  under  the  influence  of  the 
Pharisees,  now  and  then  greatly  awed  and  moved  by 
Jesus.  With  these  the  spies  of  his  enemies  constantly 
intermingled,  so  that  in  addressing  them  he  virtually 
spoke  to  the  whole  nation.  His  conversational  dis- 
courses with  them  correspond  with  these  facts.  There 
is  the  same  caution  and  reserve  on  some  points,  joined 
with  great  boldness  and  clearness  on  others,  which  we 
have  seen  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  the  para- 
bles. From  the  same  necessity  he  speaks  largely  in 
figurative  language — in  figures  often  exceedingly  bold 
and  startling,  which  they  in  their  present  temper  and 
position  could  not  fully  understand,  which  indeed 
were  only  to  be  made  clear  in  the  future  by  his  own 
death  and  resurrection.  Almost  the  only  clear  in- 
stance of  irony  is  found  in  his  address  to  this  class. 
In  answer  to  the  assertion,  that  he  could  not  be  the 
Messiah,  because  they  knew  whence  he  came,  "Ye 
both  know  me  and  ye  know  whence  I  am  !"  Indeed  ! 
"  I  am  not  come  of  mj^self,  but  He  that  sent  me  is  true, 
whom  ye  know  not !"  As  thus  you  re-examine  the 
classes  of  the  persons  thus  addressed,  you  will  see  the 
peculiar  wisdom  with  which  he  adapted  himself  to  their 
characters. 

2.  I  wish  you  now  to  notice  the  peculiar  and  orig- 
inal manner  in  which  he  presents  divine  thought  in 
these  discussions.  He  does  not  reason  as  men  gener- 
ally reason.  He  uses  logic,  but  not  as  other  teachers. 
It  is  a  peculiar,  illuminated  logic,  the  statement  of 
some  great  principle  or  fact  which  at  once  settles  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  353 

question.  It  is  the  logic  of  the  lightiiinsr.  He  sets  up 
a  pillar  of  light,  which  stands  for  all  the  ages.  He 
does  not  elaborate  premise  and  conclusion,  approach- 
ing the  point  by  slow  advances,  as  Socrates,  and  the 
greatest  uninspired  thinkers  have  done.  "With  extra- 
ordinary condensation  he  gives  tlie  principle  or  the 
fact  which  is  decisive,  but  which  men  must  study  aud 
elaborate  for  themselves,  which  stirs  their  minds  to 
eftbrt ;  which  is  pregnant  with  unexhausted  thought; 
which  unlocks  the  gate  of  knowledge  not  only  for 
them  but  for  all.  Had  he  stopped  to  reason  out  point  by 
point,  all  the  vast  questions  pertaining  to  his  kingdom, 
instead  of  three  he  would  have  required  a  iiundred 
years  for  his  work.  He  condenses  a  world  of  thought 
into  a  sentence;  he  leaves  men  to  use  their  logic  in  the 
attempt  to  trace  out  its  manifold  bearings.  As  illus- 
trating his  wonderful  sujjeriority  to  all  others  in  this 
respect,  look  at  some  of  his  answers  to  questions  not 
immediately  referring  to  himself.  The  Jewish  power 
had  been  subdued  by  the  Konian.  Cfiesar  demanded 
tribute  from  the  people  who  acknowledged  no  other 
king  but  God,  or  one  who  as  his  representative  should 
represent  their  own  theocratic  nationality.  Tiie  ques- 
tion with  the  Jew  was,  will  conscious  loyalty  to  God 
authorize  or  permit  him  to  pay  tribute  to  the  heathen 
sovereign?  They  bring  the  question  to  Jesus.  He 
asks  for  a  penny.  Upon  it  is  the  in  age  and  super- 
scription of  Cttsar.  To  coin  money  was  the  preroga- 
tive of  sovereignty.  Which  side  of  this  question  will 
Jesus  take,  and  how  will  he  justify  his  decision  ?  Other 
minds  would  have  elaborated  an  argument,  gone  into 
the  reasons  for  or  against  the  payment ;  brought  a  long 
30 


354  SERMONS   ON    THE 

legal    dissertation  with    premises  and  conclusion,  re- 
viewing the  ancient  law  and  seeking  to  demonstrate 
by  logic  the  right  answer.     I^ot  so  does  Jesus  answer. 
One  flash  of  thought  ;  one  short  sentence  uttered  iii  a 
breath:  "Render,   therefore,   unto   Cffisar  the  things 
that  are  Cresar's,  and   unto   God  the   things   that  are 
God's."     Now  see  here  the  pregnant  fertility,  the  pro- 
found penetration,  the  world-wide  comprehension  of 
these  few  words.     1.  It  affirms  the  divine  approbation 
of  civil  government.     Cassar  has  rights,  and  these  are 
given  hirri  of   God.     2.  It  affirms    the  separation   of 
church  and  state.     Religion  has  its  own  special  duties 
and  rights,  and  these  belong  not  to  the  state.     3.  It 
affirms  the  dissolution  of  the  old  tiieocratic  constitu- 
tion  under  which  the  Jewish  nation  had  lived,  with 
the  temporary  interruption  of  the  captivity,  since  the 
law  given  by  Moses.     4.  It  affirmed  that  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  now  to  be  set  up;   in  other  words,  that 
the  Christian   church,  now   to  s[)read  over  tlie  world 
and   prevail  under  different  governments,  should   no 
longer  be  a  state  or  a  national  church,  to  be  presided 
over  by  the  civil  ruler,  but  a  living,  distinct  organism 
of  its  own,  with  no  visible  head  on  earth,  with  God  in 
Christ  as  its  own  living  head  in  heaven.     Here,  in  this 
brief  declaration,  are  involved  the  living  principles  of 
Christ's  kingdom  ;  principles  which  struck  at  the  heart 
of  the  mixed  Jewish  system;  principles  which  worldly 
minds  in  the  church  and  the  world,  for  the  sake  of 
power,  have  utterly  disregarded,  and  by  such  disregard 
have  introduced  corruption  into  the  universal  church 
itself;  principles  which  can  lift  up  their  voice  protest- 
ing against  the  vast  and  wicked  assumptions  alike  of 
Constantine,   Hildebrand,    and    Victoria ;    principles 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  355 

wliich  we  in  this  free  liitul  are  seeking  to  maintain, 
and,  Ciirist  hel})in£:  ns,  will  maintain,  if  necessary,  by 
trampling  upon  king,  or  pope,  or  president,  if  they 
seek  autliority  when  God  has  never  given  it. 

Take  another  example.  The  Saddncees  w^ere  the  ra- 
tionalists, the  scoffers  of  that  age,  like  the  Pope 
and  the  materialists  of  more  modern  times.  They  not 
only  denied  the  resurrection,  but  a  future  state,  and 
resolved  man  into  a  mere  refined  animal.  So  they 
must  try  their  power  of  argument  with  this  new 
teacher,  and,  in  doing  this,  they  bring  a  test  question, 
an  argument  about  as  clear  and  irresistible  as  those 
employed  by  nine-tenths  of  our  mere  naturalists  Avhen 
they  get  out  of  the  region  of  facts  and  attempt  to  en- 
ter the  higher  region  of  spiritual  thought.  If  a  wo- 
man has  had  seven  husbands  here,  whose  wife  shall 
she  be  in  the  resurrection?  You  see  at  once  the 
grossness  of  their  conceptions  of  the  future  state.  Tiie 
answer  of  Jesus  lets  in  the  light — "In  the  resurrection 
they  neitiier  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are 
as  the  angels  of  God."  Heaven  is  not  the  gross  state 
you  imagine.  The  regimen  of  that  world  is  not  of 
earth.  Then,  compassing  the  depths  of  their  unbelief, 
lie  puts  forth  that  sublime  declaration  of  Jehovah,  "I 
am  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob;"  not  of 
the  dead,  but  of  the  living.  God  has  a  living  kingdom 
of  spirits  that  circle  his  throne.  Man  is  not  material; 
the  soul  lives  forever;  it  shall  dwell  yet  in  a  spiritual 
body  and  w'orship  God  forever.  He  does  not  say  now, 
"I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life."  That  thrilling 
annunciation  is  reserved  for  a  more  fitting  time  and 
another  audience.  But  by  his  divine  attestation,  that 
the  soul  lives  evermore,  he  pours  confusion  upon  these 


356  SERMONS    ON    THE 

scoffers  of  the  future  world.  Thus,  originally,  in  this 
superhuman  style,  does  he  bring  forth  his  thoughts  in 
these  conversational  and  often  controversial  discourses 
with  the  men  of  that  time. 

3.  Turn  now  to  a  third  point  characteristic  of  these 
conversations;  the  intensely  personal  relations  of 
Christ  to  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men.  I  do  not 
mean  here  the  mere  personality  of  Jesus,  but  the  per- 
sonality, the  person  of  Christ  himself  in  his  relations 
to  humanity  and  religion.  In  this  respect,  he  exhibits 
an  entire  contrast  to  all  the  prophets  preceding  him 
and  the  apostles  who  came  after  him.  They  are  wholly 
impersonal.  They  are  merely  the  annunciators  of  the 
will  of  God;  mere  agents  to  unfold  his  truth.  Their 
personal  character  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  truth 
and  efficacy  of  their  mission;  whether  they  are  perfect 
or  imperfect,  learned  or  ignorant  in  themselves,  is  of 
small  consequence.  For  they  hold  no  vital  relation  to 
the  church;  it  is  the  truth  God  proclaims  through 
them  that  alone  is  vital  and  important.  The  greatest 
of  the  ancient  prophets,  the  sublime  law-giver  of  the 
old  dispensation,  reveals  this  contrast  in  the  highest 
degree.  The  work  of  Moses  was  the  greatest  of  any 
performed  by  these  prophets  before  tlie  time  of  Christ. 
The  Pentateuch  is  the  charter  of  Israel,  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Jewish  theocracy,  the  national  law  of  the 
one  chosen  people.  No  man  can  estimate  or  hardly 
begin  to  estimate  the  vast  and  profound  influence  of 
that  constitution  upon  the  religious  interests  of  the 
world.  In  an  age  rushing  wildly  into  idolatry  and 
polytheism,  this  wonderful  revelation  sets  up  before 
men,  as  a  steady  pillar  of  fire,  the  unity  of  God  and  the 
obliijation  of  men  to  love  and  serve  him  alone.     In  an 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  357 


age  when  the  traditional  knowleds^e  of  God  was  being 
deeply  corrupted,  and  nations  were  descending  into 
utter  demoralization,  this  held  up  the  divine  standard 
of  religion  and  a  pure  life.  The  authority  of  Moses 
Avas  established  by  God  himself.  When  men  attempted 
to  dispute  it,  they  were  stricken  down  with  an  unpity- 
ing  hand.  Miracles  attended  his  progress  and  authen- 
ticated his  mission.  Yet  in  all  this,  Moses  is  simply  a 
servant;  nothing,  not  a  particle  of  the  vitality  or 
power  of  his  work  depends  upon  the  original  character 
of  the  man  himself.  It  is  God  standing  behind  him, 
God  lifting  the  sign  of  his  presence  before  him,  to 
whom  everything  is  referred,  for  whom  the  heart-faith 
and  obedience  of  the  people  are  demanded.  The  per- 
sonality of  Moses  is  sunk.  He  is  an  imperfect  man, 
like  other  men,  difiering  from  them  neither  in  his  or- 
ganic constitution  nor  in  his  personal  cliaracter.  lie 
is  but  the  agent  of  the  divine  will,  and  in  that  as  im- 
personal as  the  electricity  which  God  uses  to  create  the 
thunder  and  the  lightning.  In  the  Pentateuch,  it  is 
not  Moses,  but  God  who  speaks.  It  might  have  been 
any  other  person  had  God  so  chosen.  His  personal 
traits,  indeed,  titted  him  to  be  the  instrument  of  divine 
power,  but  they  were  not  vital  to  it.  And  when  he 
died,  the  word  and  the  law  remained  as  the  divine 
handiwork,  wholly  unaffected.  His  authority  passes 
with  his  life;  but  that  which  created  and  sustained  it, 
stood  in  eternal,  living  su[)remacy.  Xow,  turn  to 
Jesus,  and  see  in  these  conversational  discourses  the 
amazing  contrast.  The  same  miraculous  power  at- 
tested his  divine  mission  ;  words,  rich  beyond  all  hu- 
man thought  in  divine  wisdom,  flowed  from  his  lips. 
What,  then,  are  the  questions  which  agitate,  which  stir 


358  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

almost  to  phrens}'  the  Jewish  mind  ?  It  is  not  whether 
he  is  a  teacher — a  mere  prophet  sent  from  God.  Nico- 
deraiis  unquestionabl}^  expresses  the  secret  conviction 
of  the  nation  when  he  said,  "  We  know  thou  art  a 
teacher  sent  from  God,  for  no  man  can  do  these  mira- 
cles which  thou  doest,  unless  God  be  with  him."  The 
question  is  deeper  than  this;  this  alone  furnishes  no 
solution  of  the  unparalleled  opposition  he  encountered. 
The  question  of  the  hour  is  wholly  personaL  Is  he 
the  mysterious  object  of  prophesy — the  Messiah?  Is 
he,  like  us,  an  imperfect  creature,  organically  consti- 
tuted like  us,  or  is  he  the  divinely  constituted  Son  of 
God?  Whence  did  he  come?  How  did  he  originate? 
How  came  this  unlearned,  uneducated  jSTazarene  to 
possess  all  knowledge?  It  was  not  so  much  what 
Christ  does,  as  what  he  is,  that  startles,  perplexes,  and 
agitates  the  public  mind.  His  personality,  his  indi- 
vidual character,  his  original  constitution  and  vital 
relation  to  religion,  are  the  things  which  attract  every 
mind,  lift  themselves  to  view  at  every  point  of  these 
discussions,  give  force  and  heat  to  question  and  an- 
swer, and  criticisn),  and  divine  annunciation.  For 
these  were  the  most  amazing,  the  most  important  ques- 
tions ever  given  to  the  human  mind  for  solution.  Nat- 
ural science,  national  politics,  the  ordinary  truths  of 
religion,  were  insignificant  compared  with  these.  They 
were  no  more  to  be  compared  with  it  in  grandeur  and 
interest,  than  the  construction  of  a  watch  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  universe. 

A  brief  review  of  some  of  these  conversations  will 
set  this  point  before  us  with  the  utmost  distinctness. 
The  conversation  with  Nicodemus  is  private.  He  deals 
with  him  as  a  sincere  inquirer.     In  the  beginning  he 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  359 

remarks  upon  tlie  fundamental  truth — regeneration  by 
the  Spirit  essential  to  an  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  For  this  was  a  truth,  which  [N^icodemus  as  a 
master  in  Israel  was  bound  to  understand.  But  from 
tiiis  he  passes  almost  immediately  to  the  great  question 
at  issue — his  personal  character — his  nature  and  office 
work.  He  describes  himself  as  pre-existent  and  om- 
nipresent. "  No  man  has  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but 
he  that  came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  Man, 
which  is  in  heaven."  What  sort  of  a  being  is  this 
whose  original  is  from  heaven,  who  is  present  there 
even  while  walking  here  on  earth  ?  Nicodemus,  can 
you  understand  that?  Can  you  tell  who  this  being  is 
who  now  talks  with  them  ?  Then  conies  another 
astounding  assertion.  Looking  ahead,  Jesus  sees  the 
cross  on  whicli  he  is  to  hang — a  sacrifice  for  sin. 
Moses  reared  a  brazen  serpent  to  heal  Israel ;  tliat  was 
a  symbol  of  my  greater  work.  The  Son  of  Man  shall 
be  lifted  u{),  that  men  believing  in  me  may  not  perish. 
Then  comes  that  most  sublime,  most  affecting  truth  of 
all  the  ages:  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave 
his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
/wn  might  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life" — 
words  worth  more  than  all  that  uninspired  men  ever 
wrote — the  charter  of  salvation — the  epitome  of  re- 
demption for  a  world  in  sin.  And  so  on  to  the  close 
of  these  great  facts  and  assertions,  one  thing  stands  forth 
clear  as  suidight,  that  the  office  work  of  Jesus  rests  on 
his  nature  as  the  Divine  Son,  and  that  Christ  himself  is 
the  heart,  the  life,  the  power  of  an  efficacious  salva- 
tion. The  assertion  here  is  not  merely  that  God  is 
merciful — the  ground  of  mercy,  the  way  of  mercj^,  and 
this  is  tlie  death  of  his  only-begotten   Son.     Nothing 


360  SERMONS   ON    THE 

in  the  prophets  like  this;  nothing  in  profane  history 
like  this  ;  notliing  in  the  universe  like  this.  Oh!  if 
the  world  will  but  believe  this  with  all  their  heart, 
then  will  Christ  be  seen  leading  that  world  in  mass 
upward  to  heaven. 

Take  another  private  conversation  held  with  the 
woman  of  Samaria  at  Jacob's  well.  Imagine  her  as- 
tonishment when,  in  the  course  of  this  conversation, 
he  says  :  "  If  thou  knowest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who 
it  is  that  saith  to  the, '  Give  me  to  drink,'  thou  wouldst 
have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee 
licing  water."  She  questions  who  that  can  be.  He 
tells  her  further:  "The  water  that  I  shall  give  shall 
be  in  him  (who  receives)  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
into  everlasting  life."  Wondrous  words  !  A  dim  idea 
of  something  here  of  great  excellence  dawns  upon  her 
mind,  and  she  says  :  "  Give  me  this  water."  And  you 
and  I  and  every  soul  thirsting  for  the  life  of  God  cry 
out,  O,  Jesus,  give  us  of  this  water!  And  so  he  leads 
her  on,  opening  her  own  past  life,  and  the  spiritual 
nature  of  worship,  till  she  speaks  of  the  great  expecta- 
tion— Messiah  to  come  ;  and  then  he  answers  :  I  that 
speak  unto  thou  "  am  he."  Here,  too,  in  all  this  scene 
some  one  more  than  a  prophet  or  a  teacher  is  before 
us  ;  Messiah,  the  life-giver,  unveils  himself  to  our  eyes 
and  hearts. 

In  the  fifth  chapter  of  John,  the  conversation  which 
follows  his  healing  of  the  impotent  man  on  the  Sab- 
bath, in  justification  of  that  act,  is  full  to  overflowing 
of  these  descriptions  of  his  original  divine  nature, 
"  My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work."  What 
blasphemy  if  he  is  not  in  nature  the  Son  of  God! 
Who  will  blame  the  Jews  for  their  opposition,  wheu 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  361 

he  makes  himself  equal  to  God,  if  he  is  not  origiually 
one  Avith  him  in  being?  What  follows  this  awful 
declaration  ?  Just  what  ought  to  follow  from  this  di- 
vine equality,  lie  and  the  Father  act  as  one  in  all  the 
marvelous  works  he  performs.  Yea!  he  is  tlie  life 
quickener,  that  men  ma}'  know  him  as  they  do  the 
Father.  His  power  shall  not  only  quicken  dead  souls 
to  life,  but  raise  the  dead.  He  shall  sit  on  the  throne 
of  sovereignty  to  judge  the  world.  At  every  step  you 
see  how  his  work,  his  office,  intermingle  with  and  are 
grounded  upon  his  personal  being  and  character  as  the 
Son  of  God. 

So  in  the  sixth  chapter  he  declares  his  infinite  su- 
periority to  Moses.  The  bread  which  Moses  gave  was 
earthly,  but  Christ  is  the  living  bread  from  heaven,  of 
which,  if  a  mini  eat,  he  shall  never  hunger.  And 
when  they  murmur  at  this  wonderful  truth,  he  rises 
to  still  bolder  expressions.  He  will  give  his  flesh  and 
blood  for  the  life  of  man  ;  he  foreshadows  his  death 
on  the  cross ;  and  declares  that  whosoever  shall  eat  of 
this  bread  shall  live  forever. 

But  I  pass  on.  The  sinfulness  of  man,  of  all  men, 
is  a  fact  of  consciousness  and  history.  Ko  prophet, 
however  great;  no  apostle,  however  full  of  the  spirit, 
ever  affirmed  his  own  sinlessness.  But  Jesus,  in  an- 
swer to  the  malignant  charges  of  the  Pharisees,  rises 
above  all  prophets  ;  he  takes  himself  out  of  the  op- 
eration of  this  universal  law  :  "  Which  of  you  convict 
me  of  sin,"  or  rightly  chargeth  sin  u[)on  me.  How 
outspoken  the  heavenly  consciousness  of  indwelling 
purity  I  And  this  single  fact  of  sinlessness,  which 
gathers  the  demonstration  of  itself  from  every  part  of 
31 


362  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

his  holy  and  snblime  life,  is  of  transcendent  impor- 
tance. It  takes  him  ont  of  the  order  of  a  fallen  hu- 
manity. It  was  absolutely  essential  that  he  who  w^as 
to  be  made  sin  for  ns  should  be  himself  without  sin, 
and,  as  the  spotless  Lamb  of  God,  be  offered  for  the  sins 
of  the  world. 

But  time  fails  me  fi-illy  to  unfold  this  part  of  our 
subject.  These  conversational  discourses  are  unique, 
original,  unlike  atiy  others  ever  written — as  far  above 
them  in  vital  truths  and  sublimity  as  the  stars  are  dis- 
tant from  this  globe  of  ours.  And  the  grand  peculi- 
arity that  distinguishes  them  from  all  other  dialogues, 
be  they  of  prophet,  apostle,  or  the  great  uninspired 
men  of  the  past,  is  the  I'act  that  they  center  in  the 
person  and  work  of  Jesus;  in  the  superhuman  nature 
of  the  incarnate  Son  and  his  work  as  the  Redeemer  of 
the  souls  of  men.  Here  is  the  demonstration  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Savior  of  sinners.  Here,  as  you  read  and 
study,  the  solemn  declaration  comes  home  to  the  heart 
of  every  one  of  us.  He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved  ; 
he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned. 
.  4.  Another  fact  which  impresses  you  in  these  con- 
versations is  that  Jesus  Christ  alone  bears  the  chief 
part  in  them.  In  public  or  in  private  he  alone  stands 
forth  in  his  solitary  majesty  ;  he  alone  bears  the  bur- 
den of  instruction,  the  brunt  of  opposition.  No 
brother  like  Aaron,  no  great  mind  or  strong  hand  is 
with  him,  to  aid,  to  encourage,  to  join  forces  with 
his.  His  disciples  are  mere  children,  sources  of  weak- 
ness rather  than  strength.  With  the  utmost  calmness, 
the  utmost  courage,  he  stands  amidst  the  thronging 
crowds,  he  utters  his  words  in  presence  of  his  fierce 
opposers.      His   life   is    in    hourly    peril,    his    words 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  363 

heighten  the  fierce  fanaticism  tiiat  is  watching  and 
thirsting  for  his  blood.  He  moves  alone  in  the  sacred 
courts  of  the  temple.  He  burst  into  being  alone;  he 
bears  the  burden  of  trial  and  sorrow  all  alone.  Learned 
men  are  there;  great  men  are  there  ;  men  in  high  au- 
tliority  are  there;  but  one  form,  one  mind,  attracts  all 
eyes,  stirs  all  hearts.  In  his  presence  Pharisee  and 
Scribe,  priest  and  rabbi,  and  Sadducee,  are  as  infants. 
So  is  it  to  the  end.  When  he  has  fought  this  tierce 
battle  with  the  powers  of  earth,  then  all  alone  he 
treads  the  winepress  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  dies 
upon  the  cross.  Alone  in  the  sublimity  of  all  human 
and  divine  excellence  the  incarnate  Son  meets  the 
world. 

5.  jSTow,  as  we  hasten  to  the  end,  you  will  notice 
the  effect  of  these  conversations  upon  those  who  heard 
them.  First,  look  at  his  opponents.  The  Pharisees 
and  Scribes,  possessed  of  the  highest  religious  knowl- 
edge, acute,  combative  and  persistent,  put  forth  all  their 
powers  to  entangle  him  in  his  words,  to  wring  some- 
thing from  him  that  might  either  be  made  the  basis  of 
an  accusation,  or  the  means  of  weakening  hi.-?  author- 
ity. With  amazing  readiness,  clearness,  and  power 
he  answers  every  question,  anticipates  every  objection, 
and  pours  a  divine  light  on  subjects  which  had  bafHed 
their  profoundest  scholars.  Convicted,  if  not  con- 
vinced, baffled  and  silenced,  they  turn  from  him  to 
nourish  the  hatred  his  conquering  words  had  intensi- 
fied, and  plot  for  the  destruction  of  one  who  was  so 
infinitely  superior  to  their  wisest.  Thc}^  are  silenced. 
Then  another  foe  enters  the  arena.  The  skeptical  and 
acute  Sadducees  assail  him.  The  eternal  truth  of 
God  springing  from  his  lips  smites  their  presumption 


364  SERMONS    ON    THE 

to  the  earth.  So  great  is  his  victory  over  all  the 
might  of  learniMg,  that  no  man  dare  question  him  again. 
In  his  friends,  on  the  sincere  inquirer,  his  words 
inspired  conlidence,  expectation,  assurance  of  his  Mes- 
siahship.  On  the  multitude  at  hirge  the  impression  made 
is  that  of  wonder  and  amazement  at  his  superiority. 
The  very  officers  sent  to  arrest  him  cower  before  him, 
their  arms  grow  weak,  they  dare  not  approach  him. 
Never  man  spake  like  this  man  is  their  answer  to 
those  who  sent  them.  The  grandeur  of  his  character, 
the  wisdom,  the  vastness  of  his  knowledge,  the  holi- 
ness that  shed  divine  brightness  in  his  countenance, 
filled  them  with  awe,  as  in  the  presence  of  the  real 
Son  of  God.  As  far  as  holiness,  intelligence,  the  power 
of  the  living  utterance  of  living  truth  could  triumph, 
Jesus  triumphed.  So  profound  is  the  impression  of  his 
amazing  superiority  upon  the  multitude  ;  so  small,  so 
mean  did  all  other  men  apjiear  in  the  comparison,  that 
again  and  again,  had  he  consented,  tiiey  would  have 
taken  this  3'oung  man,  without  a  piarticle  of  civil 
power,  without  a  party,  this  man  who  liad  never  ap- 
pealed to  their  passions,  nor  flattered  their  self-conceit, 
nor  moved  an  inch  out  his  own  lofty  line  of  con- 
duct to  win  their  approbation,  who  had  inculcated 
only  the  strictest  tests  of  duty,  and  revealed  only 
profound  spiritual  truth  to  their  minds — this  man 
they  would  have  taken  and  made  him  king,  and 
crowned  him,  in  spite  of  Caiaphas  and  Pilate,  as  their 
3Iessiah.  One  word  of  his  Avould  have  marshaled 
millions  around  him,  and  swe[)t  away  priest  and  Ko- 
man  from  the  city  and  the  soil  of  Judea.  That  word 
he  spake  not.  It  was  not  thus  to  be.  It  was  not 
thus  God's  kingdom  was  to  be  established.     On  other 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  365 


foundatiouls,  b}'  other  means  than  earthly  power,  was 
lie  to  will  his  sublime  victory.  The  crown  of  the 
world  he  had  rejected  when  the  prince  of  darkness 
offered  it.  Ah,  another  scene  arises  before  him;  his 
blood  ninst  flow  ;  his  heart  be  liroken  ;  the  extreraest 
agony  be  endured,  before  tiie  hour  of  his  final  vic- 
tory shall  come.  This  prince  of  princes,  this  wisest 
of  scholars,  this  most  eloquent  of  orators,  this  grand- 
est of  prophets,  this  being  of  superhuman  power  over 
nature  and  man,  must  die — die  to  live  and  triumph 
and  open  the  gates  of  heaven  to  a  sinful  w'orld. 
We  read  now  these  words  of  Jesus  as  if  they  were 
onl}'  history.  He  appears  in  all  these  conversations 
in  grand  and  majestic  proportions;  he  rises  above  not 
only  his  time,  but  all  time.  But  Jesus  is  not  dead; 
he  lives  among  us  still;  his  words  are  not  of  tlie  past 
alone,  they  vibrate  in  the  heart,  they  quicken  a  new 
life  in  the  souls  of  men  at  this  hour.  We  wish  we 
could  see  that  wonderful  countenance  and  hear  that 
voice  which  silenced  or  awed  or  quickened  men.  But 
to-day  we  have  a  Savior  dead  and  risen,  and  mighty 
on  his  throne.  His  words  are  no  longer  enigmas; 
his  being  no  longer  a  mystery  ;  his  prophecies  no 
longer  unfulfilled;  we  see,  we  know  that  he  is  the 
incarnate  Son  of  God,  the  sacrifice  for  our  sins,  the 
Kedeemer  of  men.  To-day  in  the  world  are  the 
same  Pharisees,  ritualists,  formalists,  whom  he  put  to 
shame;  the  same  Sadducees,  unbelievers,  scoffers  at 
the  spiritual,  the  supernatural,  whom  he  silenced  ;  the 
same  uncertain,  ignorant  multitude  he  both  attracted 
and  repelled  ;  the  same  sincere  inquirers,  full  of  hope 
and  joy  for  the  future,  because  they  believe  his  word. 
Nicodemus  and  the  publican   and  the  penitent  thief 


366  SERMONS   ON   THE 

are  here  still.  But,  thank  God,  there  are  here  a  vast 
multitude  wlio  have  entered  the  kingdom.  And  here, 
too,  in  men,  are  the  same  exhaustless  desires,  the  same 
hunger  and  thirst  for  something  better  than  the  things 
of  this  life,  the  same  iiearts  laboring  under  the  guilt 
and  power  of  sin,  and  longing  to  have  the  assurance 
they  shall  never  die.  And  Jesus  is  the  same  divine 
water,  the  same  livingbread,  the  same  great  physician, 
who  alone  can  quench  the  soul's  thirst,  and  satisfy  its 
hunger,  and  heal  its  maladies,  and  quicken  it  with  a 
new  life.  Oh  !  ye  men  and  women,  who  know  that  as 
ye  drink  the  earthly  water  ye  must  thirst  again,  hear 
Christ  saying  to  you,  "  Corae  to  me  ;  the  water  that  I 
shall  give,  shall  be  in  you  a  well  of  water  springing 
up  into  everlasting  life." 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  367 


XXI. 

niS    TEACHINGS    (NO.    4).       HIS    LAST    DISCOURSE. 

'■'■Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled:  ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  inmey — Joliii  xiv  :  1. 

In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  first  didactic  dis- 
course of  .Jesus  on  record,  he  dwells  esi)ecially  on  the 
principles  of  the  divine  law  ;  he  penetrates  into  and 
unfolds  the  profound  s})i ritual ity  of  that  law,  in  its 
grasp  upon  the  deepest  feelings  of  the  heart;  he  cor- 
rects the  superficial  views  and  misconceptions  that 
prevailed  respecting  it ;  he  dwells  on  the  practical  re- 
lations it  constitutes  between  man  and  God,  and  be- 
tween man  and  man  under  a  system  of  mercy.  His 
exposition  of  its  true  nature  and  obligations  remains 
binding  upon  men.  This  is  the  text  of  nil  just  com- 
mentary ;  this  the  guide  of  all  correct  thought  into  its 
true  meaning.  But  the  discourse  on  which  we  now 
enter  is  of  an  entirely  different  character.  The  sub- 
ject, the  style,  the  spirit  are  original  and  unique.  In 
all  history  there  is  nothing  like  it.  One  of  the  most 
afiecting  and  remarkable  discourses  before  Christianity 
illumined  the  world  is  that  of  Socrates,  as  given  by 
Plato,  immediately  before  his  judicial  execution  by  the 
hemlock.  That  is  a  sublime  human  composition, 
but  when  3'ou  com[>are  it  with  this,  you  say  at  once, 
that  is  afiecting,  lieroic,  sublime;  this  is  infinitely 
above  all  heroism  ;  it  is  divine.     To  justify  this  esti- 


368  SERMONS   ON    THE 

mate,  let  me  indicate,  for  there  is  time  only  to  indicate, 
some  of  its  characteristics  and  objects.  My  first  two 
remarks,  while  they  are  essential  to  the  understanding 
of  this  discourse,  are  yet  chiefly  preliminary  to  the 
main  subject.  First,  then,  yon  notice  that  Jesus  is  here 
addressing  his  disciples  and  not  the  world  outside.  ]^or 
is  it  the  entire  body  of  his  followers,  but  a  select  few, 
to  whom  he  speaks.  It  is  only  his  most  intimate 
friends,  the  eleven  faithful  ones,  who  had  long  shared 
his  secret  counsels  ;  the  friends  who  were  to  be  the 
standard-bearers  of  his  truth  ;  who  were  to  be  the 
chosen  depositaries  of  his  gospel,  who  were  hereafter 
to  unfold  that  gospel,  on  which  his  church  was  to  be 
built,  as  ou  a  rock  foundation,  against  which  the  gates 
of  hell  could  not  prevail.  These  dear,  these  loving 
friends  wiio  for  the  three  years  of  that  divine  life  had 
shared  his  trials  and  walked  with  him  amidst  the 
perils  of  his  course,  had  eaten  with  him  and  slept  at 
his  side  and  witnessed  the  manifestations  of  his  secret 
life  and  his  wonderful  words  and  works,  are  now  with 
him.  To  them  he  speaks  ;  he  opens  his  heart ;  he 
clears  up  the  mysteries  of  his  life,  and  wnth  inexpres- 
sible tenderness  and  love  reveals  liimself  and  iiis 
future.  This  fact  gives  a  peculiar  character  to  his 
Avords  ;  this  gives  it  a  peculiar  character  for  all  time. 
It  is  only  the  real  Christian,  the  man  in  deepest  sym- 
pathy with  Christ  himself,  that  can  enter  into  and 
fully  appreciate  the  divine  loveliness,  sweetness  and 
living  power  of  this  discourse.  To  such,  in  all  ages,  it 
has  been  a  storehouse  full  of  the  manifestations  of 
divine  love.  To  such,  in  all  hours  of  trial,  despond- 
ency and  sorrow,  it  is  a  heavenly  voice  speaking  unut- 
terable consolation. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  369 

Second.  Yon  will  notice  that  this  is  the  last  dis- 
course of  Jesus  to  his  disciples.  "Ilereufter,"  he  says, 
"J  will  not  talk  much  with  you."  The  paschal  lamb 
had  been  eaten  for  the  last  time  ;  on  the  morrow  the 
veil  in  the  temple  will  be  rent  asunder,  and  the  whole 
Mosaic  system,  of  which  this  formed  a  significant  part, 
will  be  abrogated  forever.  The  Lord's  Supper  had 
been  instituted  to  commemorate  his  death  in  all  future 
time.  Tlie  traitor,  Judas,  had  left  to  consummate  his 
horrible  work.  In  a  few  hours  Jesus  would  be  ar- 
rested, tried,  and  crucified.  This  final  discourse  is 
delivered  just  as  he  is  entering  the  blackness  of  dark- 
ness in  the  very  twilight  of  tliat  sad  eclipse  which 
soon  darkened  heaven  and  earth.  It  is  this  near  pros- 
pect of  death,  the  conclusion  of  his  earthly  career,  that 
gives  to  these  final  words  their  remarkable  character 
and  profound  significance.  Even  yet  the  disciples 
can  not  realize  that  he  must  die.  He  reclines  with 
them  in  all  the  fullness  of  health  ;  he  has  all  power  in 
heaven  and  earth  ;  he  has  passed  unscathed  through 
the  midst  of  his  enraged  enemies;  he  has  stilled  the 
forces  of  nature  and  raised  the  dead  ;  he  has  again  and 
again  told  them  he  must  die.  They  saw  his  sadness 
in  view  of  his  betrayal  by  Judas  ;  they  had  partaken 
of  the  bread  which  spake  of  his  coming  agon}'  and 
the  cup  which  symbolized  the  Xew  Testament  sealed 
in  his  blood.  And  still  they  can  not  surrender  the 
expectation  that  he  is  to  set  up  a  visible  kingdom  and 
reign  as  king  over  the  house  of  Israel.  To-morrow 
their  sun  shall  be  eclipsed ;  to-morrow  the  most 
dreadful  scene  in  all  history  will  be  enacted;  to-morrow 
their  false  expectations  shall  be  quenched  in  blood  ; 
to-morrow  their  faith  shall  pass  into  a  night  illumined 


370  SERMONS   ON    THE 

by  uo  star,  no  solitary  ray  of  light.  Fatherless, 
motherless,  forsaken  by  men,  and  seemingly  by  Jesus 
and  his  Father,  nothing  but  faith  in  his  words  and 
his  deeds  can  possibly  sustain  them.  Ah  !  never  since 
faitli  was  first  born  in  the  human  soul  has  it  had  to 
stand  such  a  shock,  to  live  and  breathe  with  mountains 
piled  on  it,  to  stand  against  the  universe  in  arms. 
Jesus  knew  it  all;  the  shock,  the  quivering  blow,  the 
fearful  strain,  the  despairing  sorrow,  the  dense,  black 
night  around  these  young  children  of  his  love.  The 
coming  hour  would  task  an  angel's  strength,  and  they 
were  yet  but  infants  in  knowledge  and  faith.  l^o 
sound  of  harpers  harping  upon  their  harps  the  praise 
of  the  Redeemer ;  no  angel  voices,  as  at  Bethlehem, 
praising  God,  would  fall  upon  their  ears.  The  mad- 
dened cry,  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him,"  the  fearful 
roll  and  upheaving  of  the  earthquake,  the  unnatural 
darkness  at  mid-day,  these  stunned  the  ear  and  ap- 
palled the  eye.  Deep  in  his  heart  Jesus  saw  it,  felt  it 
all.  This  is  the  key  of  this  wonderful  discourse.  A 
low,  sad,  minor  strain  runs  through  it  from  beginning 
to  end.  An  inexpressible  sweetness,  tenderness,  and 
love  wells  up  from  the  heart  of  the  Redeemer.  Yet 
amidst  all  this  there  are  the  deep,  base  tones  of  tri- 
umph. Prophetic  strains  of  after-glory,  the  not  far  dis- 
tant scenes  of  struggles  issuing  in  victory,  the  gleam- 
ing turrets  of  the  JSTew  Jerusalem  and  visions  of  the 
unspeakable  grandeur  of  the  coming  kingdom  are  here, 
like  full-arched  rainbows  depicted  on  the  malignant 
blackness  of  the  retiring  storm-cloud.  Thus,  as  he 
enters  with  his  disciples  into  the  coming  agony,  he 
speaks  these  final  words.  These  thoughts  are  prelim- 
inary.    We  come  now  to  the  main  discussion.    The  ob- 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  371 

ject  of  this  discourse  is  i)urely  personal.  It  is  to  inspire 
faith  iu  Him  as  their  divine  Kedeemer,  in  connection 
uith  this,  and  flowing  out  of  it,  to  open  the  source  of 
guidance,  consolation,  and  hope  in  the  future.  The 
ninin  object  is  to  inspire  faith  in  him  as  the  divine  Re- 
deemer. Evervtliing  connected  with  their  future  course 
and  the  establishment  of  his  kingdom  harmonizes 
with  this  and  follows  from  it.  The  words  of  Jesus 
are  clear  and  full.  As  his  ambassador  I  shall  only 
echo  those  words,  with  the  same  intent  of  establishing 
and  increasing  the  faith  of  those  who  already  believe, 
and  leading  others  to  receive  him  as  their  Redeemer. 
May  the  divine  Spirit  He  promised  guide  you  and  me 
in  this  discussion. 

I  begin  at  once  with  his  opening  words  :  "Let  not 
your  hearts  be  troubled  ;  ye  believe  in  God,  believe 
also  in  me."  The  first  sentence  indicates  his  deep 
solicitude  for  them,  and  forecasts  what  is  to  come. 
The  occasion,  the  necessity  for  faith  is  at  hand.  Let 
not  your  heart  be  troubled.  They  are  to  be  scattered, 
and  leave  him  alone.  In  the  establishment  and  pro- 
gress of  his  kingdom  the  world  will  rise  in  arms 
against  them;  days  of  darkness  are  before  them  ;  the 
malice  of  men  and  devils  will  wreak  their  vengeance" 
upon  them.  The  sword,  the  faggot,  the  rack  arc  full  in 
his  view.  Herod  and  Pilate  and  Caiaphas,  the  state  and 
the  nominal  church  combine  their  forces  against  both 
the  Master  and  the  servant.  They  shall  be  hunted  to 
death  under  the  pretense  of  doing  God  service.  His 
coming  will  be  the  signal  for  unsheathing  the  sword 
against  his  disciples.  He  foresaw  it;  he  foretells  it; 
and  in  view  of  it  he  summons  them  to  endure  it  under 
the  inspiration  of  faith  in  him.     "  Ye  believe  in  God ; 


372  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

believe  also  in  me."  But  what  faith  is  this  he  chal- 
lenges ?  Is  it  faith  in  him  as  a  mere  human  teacher, 
a  mere  prophet,  as  ye  believe  in  Isaiah,  as  bv-ancl-by 
ye  will  believe  in  each  other  when  the  inspiration  of 
God  rests  upon  you  ?  I  answer :  I^o,  no ;  and  the 
whole  tenor  and  words  of  this  discourse  answers  :  iSlo  ! 
The  moment  the  mere  prophet  dies  his  personal  rela- 
tions cease.  His  words  are  God's  words  ;  his  person 
is  no  more  to  us  than  those  of  Abraham  or  any  other 
departed  soul  ;  he  sinks  into  the  common  mass  of 
humanity ;  he  was  for  a  moment  the  instrument 
through  whom  God  spake,  and  he  dies,  the  harp- 
strings  are  broken,  its  tones  alone  remain.  Such  a 
view  of  faith  in  Jesus  is  not  only  meager,  and  utterly 
insufficient ;  it  stands  in  absolute,  bold  contrast  to  the 
whole  of  Christ's  life  and  words.  We  must  rise 
heaven  high  above  this.  Believe  in  God ;  believe  in 
me.  Believe  in  me  as  ye  believe  in  God.  Believe  in 
me  as  one  who  himself  exercises  divine  attributes; 
who  is  the  source  of  inspiration ;  who  knows  all 
things  and  has  all  power  ;  who  is  one  with  the  Father ; 
who,  as  your  divine  Redeemer,  ever  lives  to  sustain, 
to  bless,  to  guide  you,  and  who  will  in  the  end  receive 
you  to  himself.  Believe  in  me.  This  is  the  sublime 
faith  in  Him  personally  which  he  asks  for  and  seeks 
to  inspire  in  their  souls;  this  is  the  faith  which  is  to 
lift  them  above  fear  and  give  them  the  victory  over 
the  world ;  this  is  the  faith  which  in  all  coming  gen- 
erations is  to  be  the  inspiration,  the  joy,  the  peace, 
the  hope,  the  final  triumph  of  his  people. 

Now  see  how,  as  we  advance  from  point  to  point  of 
this  discourse,  this  view  of  Christ  as  our  personal 
divine  Redeemer,  to  be  appropriated  by  a  living  taith, 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  373 

comes  out,  until  the  whole  heaven  of  thought  is  lit  up 
by  it,  and  the  apostles — no  longer  doubtful — exclaim, 
"  We  know,  we  believe  !  "  Look  now  first  at  the  2d 
and  3d  verses.  "  In  my  Father's  house  there  are  many 
mansions,  and  I  go  to  prepai-e  a  place,  and  I  will  come 
again  and  receive  you  unto  myself."  Who  is  this  calls 
God  his  own  Father?  Who  is  this  who  knows  the 
whole  world  of  light  and  glory?  Who  is  this  armed 
with  power  to  appoint  and  secure  positions  of  holy 
blessedness  among  the  heavenly  hosts  for  his  disciples  ? 
Who  is  this  who  passes  with  infinite  ease  from  earth 
to  heaven,  and  heaven  to  earth  ?  Who  is  this  who 
assumes  to  lift  upward  and  take  to  himself  as  his  own 
these  children  of  God  here  on  earth  ?  And  you  answer, 
and  tlie  whole  Church  answers,  with  one  voice:  He  is 
the  divine,  the  only  begotten  Son,  the  King  of  Kings 
and  Lord  of  Lords !  Overleaping  the  limitations  of 
time  and  sense,  lifting  the  veil  that  hides  the  future 
life,  he  opens  wide  the  gates  of  heaven,  and  pledges 
himself  to  give  those  sorrowing  ones  a  dwelling-place, 
a  mansion  in  light,  where  he  is  to  be  with  them,  their 
ever-living  Redeemer.  There  are  to  be  clouds  and 
darkness  and  storms  on  earth  ;  all  the  billows  of  human 
wrath  shall  roll  over  them  ;  in  his  service  they  shall 
fight  here  the  good  fight  of  faith;  but  when  the  hour 
shall  come,  then  he  will  receive  their  souls  to  his 
eternal  home.  In  the  blessed  confidence  of  this  faith 
they  lived,  they  toiled,  they  preached,  they  endured, 
they  died,  they  triumphed  ;  in  this  faith  Stephen  led  the 
hosts  of  God's  elect  up  the  terrible  steeps  of  martyrdom, 
crying,  as  he  ascended,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit;"  and  Paul,  called  b}'  the  same  divine  voice  to 
preach  his  gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  after  toils  and  trials 


374  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

and  persecutions,  gives  utterance  to  the  same  holy 
faith  in  this  same  divine  Redeemer:  "I  have  fong-ht  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  forme  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  whicli  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
will  give  me  in  that  day,"  This  promise  of  endless  life 
given  and  secured  hy  the  divine  Redeemer  is  the 
infinite  assurance  of  his  divine  purpose  to  crown  those 
sad  ones  with  light  and  glory  in  the  world  to  come. 

Pass  on  now  to  another  point.  Read  the  verses  from 
the  4th  to  the  12th  in  this  same  14th  chapter.  Jesus 
had  said,  "Whither  I  go  ye  know,  and  the  way  ye 
know."  Thomas,  who  was  a  natural  skeptic,  questions, 
and  Philip  seconds  him.  Then  Jesus  breaks  forth  in 
those  wonderful  words  :  "  I  am  the  way,  the  tVuth,  and 
the  life ;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  hut  by  me.^' 
Sublime  declaration  !  Summing  up  in  the  personal 
Redeemer  the  essential  attributes  of  humanity  and 
divinity.  The  mediatorship  between  God  the  sov- 
ereign and  man  the  sinner  ;  the  truth  concerning  God's 
infinite  nature  and  plans  and  purpose,  and  man's  de- 
pendent, fajleh  state  and  future ;  the  originator,  the 
giver  of  life,  are  all  in  those  words,  are  all  in  Christ 
himself.  What  prophet,  what  angel,  what  archangel, 
what  created  being  dare  utter  in  presence  of  the  all- 
seeing  Jehovah  such  assumptions  as  these  ?  But  he 
stops  not  here  ;  he  ascends,  he  surmounts,  he  stands 
upon  the  awful  height  of  direct  equality  with,  yea,  of 
perfect  oneness  with  the  Father.  "  He  that  hath  seen 
me,  hath  seen  the  Father,"  and  "  I  am  in  the  Father 
and  the  Father  in  me."  We  should  hold  our  breath, 
we  should  be  stricken  with  amazement  and  horror, 
were  we  to  hear  a  mere  creature  of  yesterday,  the  most 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  375 

enlightened,  the  most  holy,  uttering  such  fearful 
words !  But  we  feel  no  such  horror,  we  tremhle  with 
no  such  amazement,  Avhen  Jesus  declares  that  he  and 
the  Father  are  one.  We  wonder  not  when  John  says 
he  was  with  God  and  was  God  ;  when  Paul  says,  "  he 
is  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person."  Come  hither,  ye  profane  critics, 
and  tell  us  how  to  see  a  man  is  to  see  the  Father  ;  how 
such  a  man  is  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  is  in  him? 
Eut  he  stops  not  here  ;  it  is  the  Father,  the  divine 
in  him  that  does  the  mighty  works ;  it  is  not  man, 
nor  mere  inspiration  that  works  thus  ;  the  divinity 
dwelling  in  him,  his  higher  natuj-e  is  thus  all  mighty ; 
nay,  more  ;  He,  this  Son  of  God,  gives  them  the  pledge, 
that  if  they  will  believe  in  him,  he  will  empower  them 
to  do  greater  works  than  these  miracles.  They  did  be- 
lieve in  him  personally  as  the  divine  Redeemer,  and 
what  followed — a  gospel  preached  to  millions,  believed 
by  millions ;  His  kingdom  established  on  earth ;  spread- 
ing over  the  world;  the  mightiest  revolution  in  sodi- 
ety,  the  overthrow  of  the  grandest  and  most  impreg- 
nable systems  of  religion;  millions  and  millions  bow- 
ing the  knee  and  owning  him  their  divine  God.  These 
were  the  greater  works  he  pledged  himself  to  enable 
them  to  perform,  when  he  had  ascended.  He  stands 
forth  to-day  not  only  as  one  with  the  Father,  but  as 
the  personal,  life-giving  power,  that  imparted  to  those 
believing  on  him  all  their  supernatural  success. 

Ascend  now  another  stage  up  this  mount  of  light, 
and  see  this  same  truth  illustrated  in  still  another 
manner.  Open  to  the  15th  chapter  and  read,  "I  am 
the  true  vine,  and  my  Father  is  the  husbandman.  .  . 
I  am  the  vine,  and  ye  are  the  branches;  he  that  abideth 


376  SERMONS    ON    THE 

in  me  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much 
fruit ;  for  without  me,  or  severed  from  me,  ye  can  do 
nothing."  The  ligure  is  beautiful ;  the  thought  orig- 
inal, vital,  divine.  Christ  personally  is  the  living 
source  of  all  life  and  faithfulness  in  the  hearts  of  his 
disciples.  Faith  in  and  love  for  him  unites  them  to 
him.  Without  these,  severed  from  him,  their  power 
is  gone.  They  sink  into  the  mass  of  human  corrup- 
tion and  death.  Think  where  this  places  Jesus.  To-^ 
day,  as  you  pass  round  the  world,  Avhat  millions  be- 
lieve in,  love,  and  adore  him.  But  Christ  is  unseen ; 
Christ  is  in  heaven;  yet  Christ  abides  in  them  all; 
Christ  gives  life  to  all ;  Christ  gives  fruitfulness  to  all. 
Yonder  is  a  poor  soul,  just  emerging  from  the  night 
and  corruption  of  our  common  depravit}^,  and  he  cries, 
Jesus,  I  believe ;  Jesus,  I  love  thee ;  and  he  responds, 
I  am  thine,  and  thou  shalt  live  and  bring  fruit  to  glo- 
rify my  Father;  and  straightway  a  new  life  is  in  that 
soul  ;  hope  inspires  it,  and  forth  it  goes  to  live  and 
work  for  Jesus.  Multiply  these  souls;  Christ  is  the 
same  sun  to  all — the  same  life  and  salvation  to  all  in 
every  part  of  this  world.  This  is  no  fiction  of  the 
imagination ;  no  assumption  of  theorists.  It  is  a  fact 
of  experience,  known  and  felt  by  and  in  unnumbered 
souls  all  over  the  earth.  Who,  then,  is  this  wonder- 
ful being  thus  personally  allied  to  them  and  they  to 
him  by  faith,  into  whom  he  ever  pours  the  sign  of  a 
new  life,  and  so  they  bear  divine  fruits  of  love  and 
prayer,  and  confidence,  and  hope,  and  the  sweet  graces 
of  the  Christian  life  ? 

And  now  we  come  to  another  point  of  special  sig- 
nificance in  this  discourse.  In  the  xiv  :  13,  14,  Jesus 
says,  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  377 

do,  that  tlie  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son,  If 
ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it.  And 
in  the  xvi :  23,  24,  he  repeats  tlie  promise  in  another 
form  :  "  Verily,  veril}-,  I  say  unto  you,  whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name,  he  will  give  it  you. 
Hitherto  have  3'e  asked  nothing  in  my  name  ;  ask  and 
ye  shall  receive,  that  your  joy  ma}-  be  full."  The 
name  of  an  individual  represents  his  person,  character, 
and  work.  All  that  he  is,  all  that  he  has  of  influence 
and  power  and  merit  is  in  his  name.  The  name 
stands  for  the  person.  You  may  go  to  the  bank  with 
a  note  signed  by  yourself;  you  may  be  poor  and  with- 
out character;  your  note  is  rejected.  But  if  you  have 
the  indorsement  of  a  man  of  his-h  standing:,  of  o-reat 
pecuniary  ability,  and  present  that,  you  prevail,  your 
note  is  accepted.  You  stand  there  now  in  the  person, 
and,  so  far  as  that  act  is  concerned,  clothed  with  all  the 
character  and  influence  of  your  indorser.  To  refuse  to 
discount  your  note,  provided  the  bank  was  in  a  position 
to  do  it,  would  be  to  dishonor  not  ouly  you  but  your 
indorser.  And  when  you  pray  to  God  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  you  come  to  the  throne  clothed  with  all  his 
power  and  influence  ;  whatever  he  is,  whatever  he  has 
done  for  your  salvation,  you  present  as  the  reason  for 
the  answer  to  your  prayer.  Think  now  what  a  avou- 
dcrful  and  glorious  thought  this  is.  A  race  has  fallen, 
has  sinned  against  its  sovereign,  deserves  his  condem- 
nation. It  is  poor,  it  is  condemned,  it  is  hastening  to 
retribution.  But  Jesus  appears  ;  he  says,  believe  on  me 
as  3'our  Kedeemer,  take  my  name  Avith  you  in  faith  to 
the  throne  of  justice,  and  you  shall  receive  mercy,  your 
prayers  shall  be  answered.  All  that  I  am,  all  that  I 
32 


378  SERMONS   ON    THE 

have  done  to  redeem  men,  will  stand  for  you.  Oh  ! 
what  a  being  is  this,  whose  very  name  opens  the  treas- 
ures of  heaven,  and  while  he  pleads  that  name,  be  he 
the  poorest,  the  most  worthless  of  the  sons  of  Adam, 
he  shall  receive  from  the  Father  all  he  needs  for  his 
spiritual  life  here,  and  life  everlasting  beyond  the 
grave. 

Just  here  there  are  two  thoughts  to  which  I  call 
your  attention.  In  one  of  these  passages  the  Savior 
says,  whatsoever  ye  ask  in  my  name  J  will  do  it ;  and 
in  another,  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my 
name,  he  will  do  it.  So  complete  is  the  unity  of  pur- 
pose and  harmony  of  action  between  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  But  for  all  this,  there  is  a  clear  and  w^ell-de- 
lined  difterence  in  office  and  function  between  them. 
And  so  Jesus  says  in  this  very  discourse,  my  Father  is 
greater  than  I.  The  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States  have  both  the  same  human  nature, 
and  the  one  may  be  essentially  as  able  as  the  other ; 
but  one  is  greater  in  office  than  the  other.  And  so  in 
the  economy  of  redemption,  the  Father  is  said  to  send, 
the  Son  to  obey.  He  humbles  himself  from  his  official 
equality,  he  assumes  our  nature,  he  suffers  on  the  cross. 
In  our  nature,  lie  is  the  Kedeemer,  the  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man.  In  that  nature  he  prays  and  the 
Father  answers.  In  that  nature  he  intercedes  and  the 
Father  accepts.  In  that  character,  as  Redeemer,  he 
receives  all  power,  all  knowledge,  all  gifts  necessary  to 
quicken  souls,  and  carry  on  his  work  as  the  Captain  of 
Salvation  in  bringing  many  souls  to  glory.  And  thus 
the  Divine  Trinity  harmonizes  in  the  oneness  of  an  es- 
sential nature  and  the  difference  of  official  functions  in 
the  salvation  of  men.     Mysterious  it  may  be  in  some 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  379 

respects,  as  God's  nature  is  necessarily  mystery  to  man. 
Mysterious  it  may  be.  but  so  is  the  union  and  diverse 
action  of  soul  and  body  and  life  everywhere  in  all  crea- 
tion. But  the  facts  are  plain  enough  for  our  faith,  and 
what  lies  beyond  no  man  is  required  to  believe. 

A  second   thought  here.     "  Hitherto,"   says  Jesus, 
"have  ye  asked  nothing  in  my  name."     Wliy  not? 
One  answer  might  be,  because  Jesus  himself  was  with 
them.     The  bridegroom  was  present,  and  he  was  all 
powerful  to  instruct  and  guide,  protect  and  sustain 
them.     But  I  apprehend  the  true  answer  is  more  pro- 
found and  universal.     The  name  of  Jesus  expressed 
his  person  and  work  as  the  Redeemer.     Before  that 
person   was  understood   and  that  work  was   accom- 
plished, the  disciples  could  not  in  true  faith  come  to 
God  by  him  as  the  accepted  Mediator.     Hitherto  they 
were  under  instruction  in  reference  to  this  very  subject. 
So  when  Christ  taught  them  how  to  pray  he  did  not 
add  to  that  prayer,  for  my  name's  sake.     They  knew, 
as  did  all  the  prophets  and  holv  n^en  in  the  past,  that 
without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  was  no  remission 
of  sins.     But  where,  how,  by  whom   the  wondrous 
sacritice  was  to   be  offered,  was  all   mystery.     They 
prayed  as  all  the  pious  prayed  in  ages  past,  believing 
in  God's  mercy,  yet  knowing  not  the  ground  of  re- 
demption on  which  mercy  rested.     But  now  the  day 
dawned  ;  to-morroAv  the  Jesus,  the  sacrifice  would  be 
offered  ;  the  work  of  redemption  in  the  life  and  death 
of  the  Son  of  God  would  be  accomplished.     The  shad- 
ows would  flee  away  ;  the  altars  would  be  overturned  ; 
Jesus  Christ  himself  would   be    manifested   the  Ke- 
deemer  of  men.     Then,  with  an  intelligent  faith,  they 
could  lay  hold  of  Jwn  as  the  true  Mediator.     Then  his 


380  SERMONS   ON    THE 

infinite  merits,  his  divine  and  human  nature,  his  work 
as  the  Lamb  of  God,  slain  in  vision  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Avorld,  would  stand  forth  in  the  sunlight. 
Then  they  conld  pray  in  his  name  ;  for  that  name  rep- 
resented the  divine  Son  incarnate,  the  accepted  inter- 
cessor, the  offered  sacritice.  And  now  that  Jesus  has 
lived,  has  died,  has  been  made  known  to  men  as  the 
medium  of  access  to  God,  every  hearer  of  the  gospel 
is  bound  and  privileged  to  come  to  God  in  his  name. 
Yea!  it  is  the  sheerest  unbelief,  the  madness  of  skep- 
ticism, for  a  man  who  knows  of  Jesus  in  this  his  glo- 
rious character,  to  put  him  away  and  come  to  God  in 
the  positive  rejection  of  his  own  appointed  method  of 
salvation  and  hope  to  be  answered  and  saved.  Jesus 
is  the  Redeemer.  There  is  none  other  name  by  which 
we  can  be  saved.  Wonderful  being,  loving  us,  dying 
for  us,  standing  in  our  stead  before  the  throne.  To 
thee  angels  and  archangels  give  praise  and  honor.  In 
thee  the  redeemed  in  heaven  and  the  believers  on  earth 
ever  trust,  and  in  thy  name  alone  we  come  to  the 
mercy-seat  for  pardon  and  grace  to  help  in  every  hour 
of  need. 

Time  permits  me  to  mention  only  one  other  point 
in  this  discourse,  but  this  is  a  point  of  vast  impor- 
tance. Turn  to  John  xiv,  16,17:  "I  will  pray  the 
Father,  he  shall  give  you  another  comforter — para- 
clete— that  he  may  abide  with  you  forever,  even  the 
Spirit  of  Truth — Hebraism  for  the  spirit  that  reveals 
truth — whom  the  world  can  not  receive,  because  it 
seeth  him  not,  neither  knoweth  him  ;  but  ye  know  him, 
for  he  clwelleth  in  you  and  shall  be  with  you."  John 
xvi,  7,  8,  9,  10  :  "  If  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will 
not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  381 

unto  you."  The  existence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
third  person  in  the  Trinity,  is  a  fact  wholly  of"  revela- 
tion. He  is  not  visible  ;  he  is  manifest  only  to  us  in 
his  influence.  The  world  do  not  receive  him,  bnt 
Christians  know  his  power  and  rejoice  in  his  presence. 
This  divine  spirit  has  his  place  and  work  in  the  plan 
of  redemption.  Jesus  is  about  to  ascend  to  his  Father, 
but  this  other  paraclete  is  to  come  and  dwell  in  his 
people  forever.  His  oflice  work  is  threefold  ;  tirst,  with 
reference  to  Christ's  immediate  disciples,  he  was  the 
revealer — Jesus  had  instructed  and  opened  truth  to 
their  minds;  but  their  minds  Avere  weak,  their  memo- 
ries treacherous.  This  Holy  Spirit  comes  to  bring  to 
mind  his  words,  to  strengthen  memory,  to  flU  them 
with  the  truth  thus  spoken  in  all  its  vividness  and 
})ower,  and  open  the  true  meaning-  of  what  was  ob- 
scure and  dark.  Nor  is  this  all.  There  were  many 
things  Jesus  had  for  tiiem,  which  they  could  not  bear, 
were  not  able  to  receive,  before  his  departure.  These 
the  Spirit  should  make  known  to  them  ;  these  things 
to  come  he  should  unfold  to  them.  This  promise  is 
the  foundation  on  which  the  whole  New  Testament 
rests  as  the  inspired  truth  of  God.  They  spake,  they 
wrote  the  things  pertaining  to  Christ  and  his  kingdom, 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  And  so  his 
first  ofltice  in  this  kingdom  of  Christ  is  the  Revealer. 

The  second  is  that  of  the  convicter  and  regenerator. 
He  is  to  convince  the  woi'ld  of  sin,  of  righteousness, 
of  judgment;  and  as  he  convinces  and  convicts  he  is 
to  renew  and  lead  them  to  Jesus.  On  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost he  first  demonstrated  this  divine  power;  thou- 
sands were  pricked  in  their  hearts  ;  thousands  believed 
in  Jesus.     Ever  since  that  time  his  presence  has  been 


382  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

revealed  in  conviction  and  conversion.  Religion  ad- 
vances ;:  Jesus  is  received  ;  the  gosj^el  is  victorious 
only  as  he  brings  the  truth  home  to  dead  hearts  of 
men.  Yes,  what  power  would  there  be  in  the  cross, 
what  efficacy  in  the  gospel,  if  the  Holy  Ghost  enters 
not  the  soul  and  moves  it  not  heavenward  ?  Men 
come  and  go,  listen  and  forget,  purpose  and  fail  to 
execute,  move  stupidly  down  the  broad  road,  deaf  to 
the  voices  alike  of  Sinai  and  Calvary.  "VYe  preach,  we 
plead;  in  vain,  in  vain,  till  he  enters  the  strong  man's 
citadel  and  compels  him  to  cry  for  mercy.  This  is 
our  hope,  our  trust,  that  Jesus,  as  we  pray  in  faith,  will 
send  this  spirit  to  convince  all  of  you  wdio  are  yet  in 
bondage  to  sin,of  your  fearful  ruin,  and  turn  your  feet 
to  Cah^ary.  This  is  his  second  office — the  convicter, 
the  regenerator. 

The  third  is  that  of  the  quickener,  guide,  and  com- 
forter. To  the  soul  once  penitent  and  believing,  this 
blessed  Spirit  comes  and  quickens  it  to  see  and  feel  the 
fullness,  and  richness,  and  power  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus;  stimulates  it  to  sacrifice  and  labor,  excites  to 
prayer,  strengthens  against  temptation,  supports  and 
comforts  amidst  trial,  sorroAv,  and  death.  Jesus  is  in 
heaven ;  but  he  sends  this  divine  Spirit  to  work  in  his 
church  and  through  its  members,  as  if  you  could  see 
his  form  and  hear  his  voice  and  feel  his  transforming 
power.  This  is  his  great  promise,  and  this  completes 
the  cycle  of  redemption.  The  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  each  in  tlieir  office  ministering  life  and  salva- 
tion to  the  world. 

I  have  just  touched  on  some  of  the  prominent 
thoughts  in  this  glorious  discourse.  Every  part  of  it 
overflows  with  heavenly  richness,  for  every  part  of  it 


LIFE    OF   CHEIST.  383 

is  full  of  Christ.  He  is  the  center,  and  every  utterance 
reveals  the  cordial,  intimate,  and  vital  relation  of  the 
disciples  to  him  as  their  Redeemer.  To  excite  their 
faith,  their  love,  their  hope  and  joy  he  here  unbosoms 
all  liis  heart ;  and  when  he  had  reached  the  end,  from 
one,  from  all,  came  the  declaration,  "  Now  we  are  sure 
thou  knowest  all  things;"  by  "  this  we  believe  thou 
earnest  forth  from  God."  Then  followed  that  more 
than  seraphic  prayer,  for  which  language  has  no  ex- 
pression able  to  express  its  mingled  tenderness,  love, 
compassion,  grandeur,  and  divine  yearnings  to  his  be- 
loved disciples.  And  then  Lis  discourse  is  ended; 
they  go  forth  to  Gethsemane  and  the  heavens  darken 
over  the  terrible  scenes  of  Calvary. 

And  now,  O  fellow  Christian,  what  thinkest  thou  of 
Jesus  ?  I  confess  that  often,  as  I  study  his  wonderful 
words,  my  soul  is  melted  by  the  tenderness,  over- 
whelmed by  the  love,  the  sublimity  of  the  infinite 
greatness  of  Jesus.  I  know  and  you  know  that  he  is 
our  Redeemer.  All  I  can  say  is,  I  am  a  poor  sinner, 
and  Jesus  is  my  all  in  all. 

And  ye  who  listen  here  to-night  so  attentively,  Avho 
yet  have  never  taken  him  to  your  heart,  what  think 
ye  of  Jesus?  Is  he  to  you  now  the  living,  suifering, 
atoning,  almight}',  and  only  begotten  Son  of  God? 
Have  you  no  part  in  him  ?  Are  these  words  not  for 
you?  0,  can"  you  leave  this  house  unmelted,  unbe- 
lieving? Can  you  turn  away  from  the  place  where 
Christians  pray  in  the  name  of  Jesus?  Think  what 
it  is  to  have  no  Savior!  What  it  is  to  go  with  all 
your  sins  upon  you  to  the  judgment-seat! 


384  SERMONS    ON    THE 


XXII. 

THE    LAST    SCENES — HIS    AGONY   AND    HIS    TRIAL. 

"  Sit  ye  here  while  I  go  and  pray  yonder.'' — Matthew 
xxvi:  36. 

" Let  him  be  crucified'' — Matthew  xxvii :  23. 

The  portions  of  the  life  of  Christ  on  which  we  are 
to  dwell  to-night  are  of  the  deepest  interest.  But  as 
they  are  often  dwelt  upon  in  preaching,  it  is  my  pur- 
pose only  to  notice  a  few  salient  points  which  mark 
these  closing  scenes  and  set  them  off  from  those  of  all 
others.  They  are  two  of  the  lust  scenes  of  his  earthly 
life  :  the  agony  in  the  garden  and  the  trial. 

1.  The  scene  in  the  garden.  Two  facts  preliminary 
to  our  discussion  of  the  scene  itself  are  necessary  to  be 
mentioned:  (1.)  Its  historical  character.  It  is  related 
by  three  of  the  evangelists,  not  in  the  same  terms,  but 
in  substantial  agreement  with  each  other.  The  par- 
ticulars are  given  from  point  to  point  with  great  vivid- 
ness. Just  such  gardens,  according  to  Josephus,  then 
abounded  around  Jerusalem.  It  was  a  great  city,  and 
all  the  appliances  of  luxury  and  wealth  encompassed 
it.  The  position  of  this  garden  beyond  the  Kedron  is 
given.  The  position  of  the  disciples,  the  special  near- 
ness of  James,  and  John,  and  Peter,  the  agony,  and 
then  the  arrest,  are  so  given  as  to  bear  the  marks  of 
their  historic  truthfulness.  There  is  no  myth,  no 
fancy,  no  creative  imagination  here.     ]^or  can  there 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  385 


be  any  motive  assigned  for  misrepresentation.  We 
read  a  truthful  record  of  a  trutliful  scene.  We  ap- 
proach the  garden  with  the  deep  consciousness  tliat 
this  is  a  reality  and  that  here  our  Savior  suffered. 
(2.)  It  must  be  remembered,  also,  that  the  movements 
of  Jesus  were  all  voluntary.  He  had  come  from  Gali- 
lee of  his  own  accord  to  be  with  his  disciples.  He 
had  partaken  with  them  of  the  Paschal  Lamb,  and  in- 
stituted the  Lord's  Supper.  He  had  given  them,  in 
anticipation  of  the  event  of  his  crucifixion,  his  last 
instructions.  He  had  told  them  of  his  coming  death. 
Singing  a  hymn  with  them,  he  had  resorted  with  them 
to  this  garden  of  Gethsemane.  He  had  marked  the 
traitor,  and  Judas  had  gone  to  do  his  horrible  work. 
Even  at  this  time  he  could  have  gone  elsewhere.  He 
remained  here  voluntarily  to  meet  his  doom.  When 
arrested  he  had  aifirmed  his  power.  Legions  of  an- 
gels would  have  been  given  him  to  transport  him  from 
their  sight.  But  he  tarried  there ;  he  went  into  the 
arms  of  his  enemies  with  a  clear  foresight  of  the  fu- 
ture. In  opposition  to  his  will,  considered  as  a  man, 
he  would  not  have  been  arrested;  in  opposition  to  his 
will,  considered  as  the  Son  of  God,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  have  led  him  away.  Remember,  then, 
that  through  all  this  account  there  runs  personal  de- 
sign. Nothing  is  forced ;  he  is  not  taken  unawares; 
all  is  foreseen  ;  all  his  preparations  are  made,  and  the 
end  is  suffering  unto  death. 

(3.)  We  come  now  to  the  scene.  Jesus  is  alone. 
Three  only  of  his  disciples,  the  same  that  were  with 
him  on  the  mount  of  Transfiguration,  are  near  him. 
It  is  an  hour  of  prayer.     Watch  ye  here  while  I  go 


386  SERMONS   ON    THE 

and  pray  yonder.  He  pours  out  his  soul  before  the 
Father.  He  alone  understands  his  case;  he.  alone 
comprehends  the  cause  ;  from  him  alone  he  seeks  sup- 
port. It  is  an  hour  of  most  intense  agony.  He  is  in 
great  distress  ;  the  anguish  of  his  soul  forces  the  sweat 
through  the  pores  of  his  skin  as  if  it  were  great  clots 
of  blood  falling  to  the  earth.  It  is  an  hour  of  submis- 
sion. ISTot  my  will  but  thine  be  done.  Thrice  he  has 
prayed,  and  then  the  angels  came  down  to  strengthen 
him,  lest  the  soul  itself  should  be  utterly  prostrate,  or 
should  part  company  with  the  body.  Such  in  outline 
is  the  scene ;  but  the  imagination  is  powerless  to  fill 
up  its  parts.  Language  can  not  describe  it.  Experi- 
ence can  alone  realize  it,  and  experience  is  not  ours. 
The  circumstances,  the  sufit'erer,  the  agony,  all  stamp 
it  as  mysterious  and  utterly  unaccountable  on  any 
merely  ordinary'  theory.  I  can  understand  the  an- 
guish of  the  body  when  he  hangs  upon  the  cross ;  for 
there  is  the  most  excruciating  physical  suiFering.  The 
nails,  the  position,  are  killing  him  by  inches,  torturing 
life  out  of  him.  But  here  there  is  no  bodily  suffering; 
he  is  in  perfect  health ;  there  are  no  manacles  upon 
him ;  he  is  free  to  go  where  he  will,  and  if  he  will  to 
escape  the  traitor  and  his  murderous  band.  Why, 
then,  this  suffering?  1  can  understood,  too,  how  a 
mere  good  man,  in  view  of  suffering,  or  when  he  thinks 
upon  the  ingratitude  and  evil  state  and  sad  prospects 
of  others,  may  be  the  subject  of  melancholy  gusts  of 
sorrow  ;  but  here  is  a  being  pure  in  himself,  self-con- 
tained, clear-minded,  looking  forward  and  backward 
with  profound  intelligence,  seeing  in  God  his  most 
loving  Father,  surrounded  by  attached  disciples,  yet 
suffering  the  deepest  anguish.     Tell  me,  if  you  can. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  387 

the  secret  of  the  agony  of  the  garden  ?  His  follow- 
ers, sustained  by  faith  in  him,  by  scores  of  thousands 
have  rejoiced  in  the  extreraest  forms  of  torture.  They 
have  been  racked  and  burned,  but  the  inward  faith 
has  lifted  them  above  bodily  anguish.  What  element 
is  in  him  that  was  not  in  them  ?  What  source  of  sor- 
row here  that  was  not  there  ?  Think  a  moment,  ye 
who  doubt  the  divine  work  of  Jesus  in  Redemption  ! 
On  your  theories,  why  this  position  ?  Why  this 
prayer  ?  Why  this  inward  agony  ?  But  when  you 
rise  out  of  this  mephitic  darkness  of  the  skeptic  into 
the  serene  light  of  Christianity,  then  you  understand 
the  occasion  and  the  necessity  of  the  suffering,  al- 
though you  can  not  here  fully  comprehend  the  suffer- 
ing itself.  Jesus  began  his  redemptive  work  when, 
veiling  the  divine  glory  aside,  he  took  upon  him  our 
nature.  In  his  life  of  temptation,  poverty,  sorrow, 
not  only  his  personal  righteousness,  but  this  re- 
demptive work  was  in  it  all.  In  every  act,  in  every 
word,  in  every  deed,  this  is  present.  And  now  the 
end  is  quite  near.  Eedemption  has  been  advancing, 
step  by  step,  through  all  his  illustrious  life.  One  thing 
remains  ;  the  bearing  sin  in  his  own  body  ;  the  curse 
falling  upon  him  in  all  its  malignity  ;  the  agony,  the 
trial,  the  crucifixion.  These  three  are  all  as  one.  A 
few  hours  in  time  binds  them  together.  The  Master 
of  the  world  begins  his  march  to  Calvary  from  the 
garden.  The  amazing  work  be  is  performing  rests 
with  all  its  weight  upon  his  human  soul.  Sin  is  suffer- 
ing ;  he  is  bearing  sin;  he  is  tortured  with  suffering. 
Start  not,  unbeliever,  wiien  I  say  it,  he  is  beginning  to 
drink  in  its  bitterness  the  cup  of  the  "  wrath  of  God !" 
Redemption    is    the    vindication    of   justice    through 


388  SERMONS   ON    THE 

siiftering.  The  burden  an  angel  could  not  bear,  is  on 
him.  His  soul  comes  into  contact  with  the  fearful 
deserts  of  a  world's  sin.  He  sees,  he  feels,  he  suffers, 
he  sinks.  My  Father!  let  this  cup  pass  from  me,  is 
forced  upon  him;  then,  rising  above  the  pain,  he 
humbly  says,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  For 
this  is  not  all ;  this  is  the  beginning  of  the  end  ;  the 
trial,  the  cross,  is  all  before  him  ;  the  anticipation 
mingles  with  and  intensifies  the  present  agony.  Sin 
in  its  dreadful  nature  is  brought  home  to  his  soul  as  it 
never  has  been  to  the  living  or  the  dead..  There  is  an 
intensity  of  meaning  in  the  prophet's  words,  "  he  bare 
our  sins."  It  is  not  the  sin  of  one  ;  it  is  the  sin  of 
humanity.  This  marks  this  hour;  tliis  sets  it  off  from 
all  our  sufferings;  this  furnishes  the  occasion  for  his 
agony;  this  is  its  reason  ;  this  its  explanation;  and 
without  this  idea  it  is  impossible  satisfactorily  to  ac- 
count for  this  scene  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane;  it 
remains  the  puzzle  of  history  to  the  unbelieving  world, 
until  that  world  comes  into  sympathy  with  God  in 
respect  to  sin  and  wrath.  Such,  in  brief,  is  Geth- 
semane. 

We  pass  now  to  the  arrest  and  trial.  Kising  from 
his  place  of  prayer  and  suffering,  Christ  is  aware  of 
the  approach  of  those  sent  to  take  him.  Summoning 
his  disciples,  he  waits  not  for  their  entrance  into  the 
garden  ;  moving  forward  to  meet  them,  he  inquires 
w^hom  they  seek  ?  Impressed  by  his  calm  majesty, 
they  recoil.  Then  Judas  attempts  to  kiss  him,  and 
receives  the  answer:  "  Betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  j\Jan 
with  a  kiss?"  For  a  kiss  is  the  symbol  of  friendship, 
of  confidence,  of  peace,  and  the  traitor  seeks  to  veil  his 
murderous  intent  under  the  cover  of  affection.     The 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  389 


character  of  this  man  stands  forth  as  the  embodiment 
of  avarice,  of  dishonored  affection,  and  the  mo«t  fear- 
ful crime.     His  presence  among  the  disciples  is  the 
voucher  for  the  historical  truthfulness  of  the  narrative 
of  the  life  of  Christ.     It  was  an  essential  link  in  that 
chain  of  events  which  led  on  to  his  crucifixion.     If 
there  was  wrong,  deception,  evil  of  anv  kind  in  this 
course,  he  would  have  detected  and  unfolded  it.     In- 
stead of  this  Christ  detected  and  unfolded  him  in  his 
true  character.     He  furnishes,  for  he  can  not  furnish 
the  Sanhedrim,  with  any  just  ground  of  condemnation. 
He  is  immortal ;  but  it  is  an  immortality  of  infamy. 
His  fearful  remorse  when  the  sad  consequences  of  his 
crime  enforced  and  illustrated  its  evil ;  his  restoration 
of  the  blood-money;  his  wretched  suicide,  can  not  re- 
deem him  from  the  abhorrence  and  the  contempt  of 
mankind.     "  It  were   better  for  him    never   to   have 
been   born,"    are   the   fearful   words   of  Jesus.     The 
apostate  is  doomed.     Apostacy  from  the  right  and  the 
true  is  damned.     Apostacy  for  money  is  damnable; 
apostacy  from  Jesus  and  his  love  and  light,  when  he 
seeks  to  save  the  soul,  is  doubly  damned.     He  who, 
with  God's  word  in  his  hands,  and  God's  people  as 
his  brethren,  tramples  the  one  in  the  earth  and  scoffs 
at  and  wounds   the  other  as  if  they  were  felons,  has 
already    deserved    deep    perdition;   but   he  who,  en- 
rolling himself  among  the  personal  disciples  of  Jesus, 
and  sitting  under  his  light  and  enjoying  the  familiar 
acquaintance  of  a  disci])le,  for  a  little  money,  betrays 
his  Lord,  where  in  this  universe  shall  he  dwell,  and 
what  in  the  great  hereafter  shall  be  his  reward? 

I  need  not  now  speak  to  you  of  the  hasty  Peter  and 
his  sword ;  of  the  miraculous  deed  of  Christ  in  heal- 


390  SERMONS   ON    THE 


ing  the  severed  ear  and  saving  his  disciple  from  after 
vengeance;  nor  of  the  dispersion  of  the  eleven  and 
the  surrender  of  the  Savior  to  his  enemies.  They 
conduct  him  to  the  house  of  Annas,  the  former  high- 
priest,  and  the  father-in-law  of  Caiaphas.  the  present 
high-priest.  It  is  still  night,  hut  the  conspirators  are 
present  waiting  for  the  result  of  the  attempted  arrest. 
Through  the  dark  streets  of  Jerusalem,  as  if  he  had 
been  a  vile  felon,  the  blessed  Savior  is  led  in  tlie  pro- 
foundest  secresy  to  this  man's  house.  Jerusalem  is 
filled  with  myriads  from  the  towns  of  Palestine,  at- 
tending the  passover.  But  Jerusalem  knows  not 
that  her  king  is  brought  as  a  captive  through  her 
sleeping  multitude.  Here  they  consult,  they  condemn 
in  anticipation.  But  the  ecclesiastical  trial  could  not 
take  place  except  before  the  regular  assembly  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  and  this  could  not  be  until  the  morning. 
Time  passes  swiftly.  The  hum  of  an  uprising  popula- 
tion meets  the  ear  when  Jesus  is  taken  to  the  house  of 
Caiaphas  and  stands  on  trial  before  the  great  assembly. 
By  tliis  time  it  begins  to  be  noised  abroad;  Jesus 
Christ  is  taken,  arrested  as  a  malefactor.  His  trial 
proceeds;  the  witnesses  fail;  put  upon  his  oath,  he 
acknowledges  that  he  is  Messiah,  He  is  condemned; 
he  has  been  condemned  in  anticipation  before  his 
arrest.  Caiaphas  bad  declared  that  he  should  die  for 
the  sins  of  the  people.  But  the  Jew  had  not  the 
power  of  execution,  Rome  lifted  lier  eagles  in  Jeru- 
salem. Other  penalties  they  might  inflict,  but  death 
the  Roman  held  as  the  sign  of  his  dominion.  "We  pass, 
then,  to  the  hall  of  judgment,  the  court-room  of  the 
Roman  Pilate.  The  procession  thither  is  augmented 
as  the  news  of  the  arrest  has  flown  through  the  city. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  391 

The  priests,  the  Pharisees,  the  multitude  attend  the 
Savior.  Before  the  bar  of  Kome  it  will  not  do  to 
plead  against  Christ  the  violation  of  some  Jewish 
ecclesiastical  law.  With  this  Pilate  will  have  nothing 
to  do.  They  raise,  therefore,  another  charge,  utterly 
false — they  accuse  Jesus  of  aiming  at  civil  power. 
This  charge  a  few  words  respecting  the  purely  religious 
nature  of  his  kingdom  disproves,  and  Pilate  is  con- 
vinced. But  the  Jews  are  now  clamorous  against  him 
as  a  disturber  of  tlie  public  peace.  Pilate,  hearing 
that  he  is  a  Galileean,  and  knowing  that  Herod,  the 
tetrarch  of  that  country,  is  in  the  city,  adroitly  seeks 
to  stay  the  further  trial  in  his  court  by  transferring 
him  to  that  of  this  prince.  Thither  he  is  conducted; 
but  Herod  fails  to  condemn  him,  and,  after  mockery 
and  contempt,  sends  him  back  to  Pilate.  And  novv 
commences  the  struggle  in  this  weak,  treacherous,  and 
cruel  ruler  and  his  conscience  and  judgment.  He  is 
convinced  that  Christ  is  innocent ;  but  how  shall  he 
satisfy  the  Jews  ?  His  wife  warns  him  against  the 
crime  he  is  urged  to  commit.  He  seeks  to  avoid  it, 
by  offering  to  release  Jesus  instead  of  the  murderer 
Barabbas,  according  to  custom  at  that  feast.  The 
Jews  claim  Barabbas.  Again  he  is  thwarted.  But 
what  shall  he  do  with  Jesus?  Crucify  him  !  crucify 
him  ! !  resounds  on  every  side.  Still  he  declares  Jesus 
innocent;  he  may  save  him  yet.  Then  the  crafty 
Pharisees,  knowing  their  man,  yjly  him  with  a  linal 
and  effective  argument.  "  H  thou  let  this  man  go, 
thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend."  Oh  !  anything  but  that. 
Cajsar'is  Pilate's  God,  his  authority,  his  power,  his 
life.  To  win  the  favor,  to  shun  the  disgrace  of  Cffisar, 
he  will  dve  his  hands  in  Ijlood.     In  vain  he  washes 


392  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

his  bands  in  token  of  his  innocence.  Jesus  is  deliv- 
ered to  be  scourged  and  crucified.  The  just  is  given 
to  the  cross  ;  the  murderer  Barabbas  is  restored  to 
the  people  ;  and  Pilate  thinks  himself  safe.  We  shall 
see,  after  a  little,  the  end. 

This  trial,  the  most  remarkable  in  history,  has  and 
always  will  attract  to  itself  the  deepest  interest  of  the 
world.  The  arrested  one  is  the  Savior  of  the  world, 
and  the  circumstances  following  it  are  the  most  mo- 
mentous. (1.)  You  notice  here  that  it  is  carried 
through  with  the  most  indecent  haste.  The  arrest  is 
made  at  night,  upon  an  unresisting  man,  who  appeared 
daily  in  the  temple,  and  mingled  freely  with  the 
people.  He  is  hurried  to  the  house  of  Annas,  and 
undergoes  a  preliminar}^  and  illegal  examination ;  he 
is  then,  as  soon  as  it  can  be  convened,  hurried  to  the 
Sanhedrim  ;  then  he  is  taken  to  Pilate  ;  from  Pilate 
he  is  led  to  Herod  ;  back  again  be  is  brought  to  Pilate ; 
there  condemned,  he  is  instantly  led  to  crucifixion. 
Why  such  haste  ?  Was  the  city  in  danger  ?  Did  the 
public  good  require  it?  The  only  answer  is,  ITo  ! 
Cicero,  when  consul,  assembled  the  Senate  of  Rome 
in  secret  session  ;  they  tried  and  condemned  the  con- 
spirators of  Cataline ;  they  were  arrested  and  destroyed. 
He  was  accused  and  condemned  afterward  for  the  exe- 
cution of  Poman  citizens  without  a  fair,  open  trial. 
What  was  his  plea  in  answer  ?  The  republic  itself  was 
in  danger;  these  villains  had  planned  its  overthrow, 
and  with  it  w^holesale  butchery  and  robbery.  Their 
plans  were  ripe ;  they  were  numerous  and  strong;  and 
if  not  instantly  taken  and  destroyed,  they  would  have 
succeeded.  What  have  we  here?  A  guileless  man, 
a   religious    prophet,  a   holy  teacher,  a   respecter   of 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  393 

law,  a  sublime  lover  of  men.  No  act,  no  thought 
hostile  to  the  state  appears  in  his  life.  Yet  he  is 
secretly  arrested  ;  hurried  from  tribunal  to  tribunal, 
alone,  friendless,  condemned  and  executed. 

You  will  notice  next  the  fact  that  he  is  condemned 
while  guiltless.     In  answer  to  the  adjuration   of  the 
high  priest,  after  their  Avitnesses  had  failed  to  con- 
vict him  of  anything  criminal,  "to  tell  them  whether 
he   was  the  Clirist,  the  Son  of   the  living  God,"  he 
utters   the   words,  "  Thou  hast  said ;  nevertheless,  I 
say    unto   you :    Hereafter   shall    ye   see   the    Son    of 
Man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  power  and  coming 
in  the    clouds  of  heaven."     On  this  the  high   priest 
accuses  him  of  blasphemy,  and  they  condemn  him  as 
Avorthy  of  death.     But  this  is  not  to  try  him  ;  this  is 
just  to  obtain  some  confession  on  which  to  base  a  fore- 
gone conclusion.     It  was  their  duty  then  to  see  whether 
or  not  his  confession  was  true.     What  are  the  signs  of 
the]Messiahship?     What  the  proofs  that  he  is  the  Son 
of  God  ?     AVhat  has  he  done  to  prove  these  stupendous 
assumptions  to  be  real  ?     There  is  nothing  of  all  this  ; 
they  are  seeking  to  condemn,  not  to  know  the  truth. 
It  is  of  no  consequence  that  their  own  scriptures  an- 
nounced the  coming  of  just  such  a  being;  it  is  nothing 
that  he  has  wrought  the  most  manifest  miracles  and 
spoken  the  most  wonderful  words.     It  is  enough  to 
know  that  he  claims  to  be  the  Messiah  ;  he  is  worthy 
of  death.     And  so  this  Avhole  trial  turns  out  to  be  a 
mockery  of  justice,  a  travesty  of  judicial  proceedings. 
He  is  the  Messiah  ;  he  is  the  Son  of  God  ;  the  words 
he  utters  are  true  ;  but  because  they  are  true,  he  must 
die.     Before  Herod  and  Pilate  there  is   not  given  a 
particle  of  evidence  of  crime.     Pilate  himself  declares 


394  SEEMOXS    ox    THE 

liis  innocence  in  the  most  emphatic  manner.  Roman 
judgment  is  convinced  of  his  innocence,  but  Roman 
ambition  yields  to  Jewish  injustice.  O  !  in  that  hour 
Jerusalem  and  Rome  were  weighed  and  found  want- 
ing ;  in  that  hour  they  sealed  their  doom. 

Look  now  at  the  principal  personage  in  this  scene. 
Exhausted  by  the  night's  watching,  by  the  last  instruc- 
tions to  his  disciples,  by  the  fearful  agony  of  the  gar- 
den, he  moves  before  us,  outwardly  calm,  unresisting, 
sublime  in  his  reticence  and  in  his  words.  He  meets 
his  enemies  at  the  arrest  so  calmly  that  they  are 
amazed ;  he  heals  the  ear  of  Malchus,  when  they  are 
bent  on  taking  his  life  ;  he  looks  searchingly  on  Peter 
after  his  denial ;  he  answers  not  before  the  illegal 
tribunal  of  Annas;  but  his  words,  when  under  oath 
before  Caiaphas  and  Pilate,  are  memorable,  sublime, 
such  that  the  world  never  will  forget  them.  There  he 
stands,  now  before  the  Sanhedrim,  now  before  Pilate, 
before  Herod,  amidst  the  brutal  soldiery,  as  they 
scourge  and  crown  and  robe  him,  amidst  the  fierce 
populace  tlironging  around  him — the  same  serene,  un- 
resisting Son  of  God ;  for  he  was  to  be  led  as  a  lamb 
to  the  slaughter  ;  and,  as  a  sheep  before  her  sliearers  is 
dumb,  so  opened  he  not  his  mouth.  In  all  that  scene 
of  trial  there  is  no  word,  no  act  unbecoming  the  lowly 
Lamb  of  God  ;  there  is  everything  to  justify  the  word 
of  Rousseau,  that  if  Socrates  died  like  a  philosopher, 
Jesus  died  like  a  God  ! 

-Look  now  at  tlie  actors  in  this  scene.  The  Jew  first 
arrests  our  attention  ;  for  he  it  was  on  whom  rests  the 
original  guilt  of  this  transaction  ;  it  was  to  him  the 
Redeemer  came  as  the  Savior ;  it  was  to  him  those 
words  of  life  and  love  had  been  originally  sj)oken  ;  it 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  395 

was  ill  his  villages  and  cities  be  Lad  wrought  such  un- 
paralleled exhibitions  of  super-angelic  power  in  heal- 
ing thousands  of  bis  diseased  and  dying ;  it  was  for 
bim,  at  lirst,  tbat  incarnate  Son  bad  been  revealed  in 
bis  all-perfect  life  ;  in  bis  hands  were  tbose  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, they  described  the  suffering  and  the  aU-glorious 
Messiah  ;  and  it  was  bis  rejection  of  tbis  Christ  tbat 
culminated  in  the  cry,  "  Crucify  bim,"  His  answer  to 
Pilate,  "  We  have  no  king  but  Cfesar,"  was  a  lie 
flaunted  forth  before  the  world.  At  that  hour  bis 
heart  burned  with  a  fanatical  hatred  of  Rome ;  be  had 
a  king  supreme  above  Csesar;  be  longed  and  boped 
for  the  coming  of  bis  representative,  in  tbe  person  of 
Messiab,  who  should  take  tbe  civil  scepter  and  expel 
tbe  usurper  from  bis  throne,  and  set  up  tbe  kingdom 
of  Israel  in  its  pristine  glory.  Had  Jesus  lent  bimself 
to  sucb  a  purpose,  be  would  have  carried  bim  in  bis 
arms  and  shouted  bis  bosannas.  But  when  be  denied 
Christ,  he  took  to  bis  bosom  an  assassin  and  a  mur- 
derer. From  that  hour  be  reaped  as  he  had  sown; 
murder,  assassination,  intestine  war,  open  revolt, 
marched  tbrough  the  land,  and  flooded  bis  cities  witb 
blood.  Peace,  quiet  be  knew  no  more.  He  ripened 
in  every  attribute  of  evil,  until  tbe  legions  of  Rome 
trode  bim  down  beneath  their  iron  heel ;  tbe  temjile 
lay  in  ruins,  and  the  remnant  of  the  people,  escaped 
from  tbe  edge  of  tbe  sword,  were  sent  forth  as  the 
monuments  of  divine  wrath  to  fuliill  bis  pro[)betic 
words,  in  their  dispersion  over  tbe  eartii.  To-day  men 
point  to  the  Jew  as  prophec}'  fulfllled  ;  to-day  this 
fated  and  trodden  people  exist — exist,  after  eighteen 
centuries  of  plague  and  war,  and  i-acks  and  fire,  and  dis- 
abilities— exist  still,  distinct  from  ail  nations.     They 


396  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

have  drunk  the  cup  even  to  its  dregs ;  but  there  is  to 
dawn — is  dawning — a  brighter  day  ;  the  day  of  the 
fuller  gathering  in  of  the  Gentiles,  when  this  long- 
cursed  people  shall  come  forth,  no  more  to  shout, "  Cru- 
cify him,"  but  with  a  penitent  heart  and  streaming  eyes, 
to  cry,  "  My  Lord,  and  my  God."  The  past  is  seen, 
is  known  ;  the  Messiah  they  have  longed  and  hoped 
for  is  He,  the  cruciiied  one  ;  and  when  this  fact  dawns 
upon  them,  then  to  Him  shall  the  gathering  of  the 
people  be.  Hasten,  oh  Lord,  that  hour  of  gladness  ; 
that  hour  when  Jew  and  Gentile,  no  longer  Jew  and 
Gentile,  shall,  with  one  voice,  crown  Jesus  as  their 
king. 

Turn  now  to  the  other  prominent  actor  in  this 
scene,  the  representative  of  Rome.  Pilate  was  proba- 
bly no  better  and  no  worse  than  the  majority  of  the 
Roman  governors.  He  was  not  so  intensely  cruel  as 
some  imagine  him;  he  was  simply  selfish,  and  unwill- 
ing to  hazard  his  interest  with  Tiberius  by  a  clemency 
or  an  act  of  justice  that  might  be  interpreted  against 
him.  He  did  not  possess  the  principle  that  vindicates 
the  right  against  all  opposing  circumstances.  He  was 
not  a  Cato.  He  lived  on  the  breath  of  royal  favor ; 
to  lose  that  favor  was  to  him  political  damnation.  To 
retain  it,  the  clamors  of  the  multitude  sounded  louder 
than  the  still  voice  of  justice.  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  read  the  history  of  this  transaction  without  being 
convinced  that  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Savior, 
and  most  favorably  impressed,  if  not  awed,  by  his 
presence.  The  admonition  of  his  wife  added  to  these 
personal  convictions.  The  struggle  between  right 
and  wrong  reveals  itself  in  his  eftbrts  to  save  the  Re- 
deemer.    But  the  lust  of  power,  the  fear  of  the  loss 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  397 


of  the  royal  favor,  tlie  persistent  cries  of  the  Jews,  at 
length  overcame  all  his  better  intentions.  The  cere- 
mony of  washing  his  hands  was  a  pitiful  device  to 
avoid  the  guilt  of  his  act.  lie,  and  he  alone,  held  the 
power  of  life  or  death  in  his  hands.  God  and  the 
emperor  held  him  responsible,  lie,  too,  reaped  as  he 
sowed.  His  administration  was  disturbed  by  revolt. 
He  was  accused  before  the  emperor.  He  returned  to 
Kome  to  find  him  dead  and  Caius  on  the  throne. 
Tradition  is  unanimous  that  he  suffered  misfortunes, 
and  sought  to  rid  himself  of  them  by  self-destruc- 
tion. Two  traditions  were  early  current  respect- 
ing his  death.  One  of  these  is  that  he  was  ban- 
ished to  Vienue  on  the  Rhone,  where  a  singular 
monument,  a  pyramid  on  a  quadrangular  base  tifty- 
two  feet  high,  is  called  Pilate's  tomb.  The  other  is 
that  he  resorted  to  a  mountain  by  Lake  Luzerne,  now 
called  Mt.  Pilatus  ;  that,  after  spending  years  in  its 
recesses  in  remorse  and  despair  rather  than  penitence, 
he  plunged  into  the  waters  of  the  lake  on  its  summit. 
So  speaks  tradition  ;  how  true  or  how  far  false  we 
know  not.  That  it  has  an  essential  element  of  truth 
is  most  probable,  and  that  truth  is  that  he  sutfcred 
under  the  just  judgment  of  God  even  in  this  world. 
He  died,  but  Christ  and  Christianity  lived.  Rome 
had  reached  its  highest  imperial  glory ;  step  by  step 
it  descended,  and  as  it  descended,  Christianity  spread. 
It  became  the  mightiest  power  of  earth,  and  then 
Kome  fell,  as  Jerusalem  had  fallen,  the  curse  of  God 
resting  upon  them  both. 

Our  subject  supplies  a  threefold  lesson.  The  first  is 
that  national  injustice  and  national  corruption  will 
inevitably  conduct  to  national  retribution,  or  to  decay 


398  SERMONS    ON    THE 

and  extinction.  History,  even  down  to  onr  own  times, 
is  full  of  illustrations  ;  but  the  nation  most  prominent 
in  this  scene  stands  out  to-day  as  a  monument  both  of 
national  injustice  and  national  ruin.  Our  nation  is  to 
live  as  a  free  nation  only  by  a  virtuous  intelligence; 
and  a  virtuous  intelligence  can  only  be  gained  by  the 
universal  education  of  our  youth  in  the  principles  of 
divine  authority  and  truth,  which  alone  can  supply 
virtue  to  the  individual  and  the  nation,  and  the  only 
book  that  establishes  these  principles  on  a  just  and 
immovable  foundation  is  the  Word  of  God.  And  when 
men  seek  to  cast  out  of  our  schools  the  only  book  that 
proclaims  the  authority  of  the  State  and  furnishes  the 
principle  on  which  that  authority  securely  rests  among 
a  free  people,  and  supplies  the  only  principles  that  can 
make  men  virtuous  citizens,  peaceful  and  law- loving 
citizens,  it  seems  to  me  they  have  taken  a  long  stride 
toward  the  demoralization  of  our  youth  and  tiie  de- 
struction of  our  free  institutions  ;  and  however  they 
may  seek  to  remedy  their  fault  by  aiding  directly  re- 
ligious institutions,  it  is  clear  to  me  they  do  but.  pull 
down  with  one  hand  while  they  seek  to  build  up  with 
the  other — they  sap  the  very  foundations  of  all  true 
authority,  and  leave  the  State  without  a  single  prop 
in  its  own  institutions  with  which  to  sustain  its  own 
weight  or  vindicate  its  own  integrity.  What  else 
does  the  State  rest  on  but  the  divine  authority,  and  if 
it  casts  loose  from  the  word  of  God,  where  else  is  it  to 
obtain  that  without  which  it  falls  lifeless  ? 

There  is  here  a  further  lesson  for  politicians  and 
statesmen.  They  are  set  up  to  promote  the  good  of 
the  people.  If  they  commit  injustice  and  send  forth 
an  evil  example,  they  not  only  insult  the  majesty  of 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  399 

the  people,  tliey  contribute  to  the  demoralization  of 
the  nation  and  insult  the  majesty  of  God.  He  who, 
without  full  right,  on  vain  and  frivolous  pretenses,  by 
corrupt  bargains  for  place,  by  unjust  contracts,  b}-  any 
evil  device,  abstracts  from  the  public  treasury  that 
which  does  not  rightly  belong  to  him,  is  as  much  a 
thief  and  a  scoundrel  as  if  he  thrust  his  hand  into  the 
pockets  of  his  neighbor  unlawfully.  He  may  escape 
momentary  detection  ;  he  may  grow  rich  on  his  illicit 
gains;  but  the  money  shall  curse  him,  the  brand  of 
Pilate  shall  be  on  him,  and  his  restless  soul,  cursed 
here,  shall  only  live  to  ripen  for  the  deeper  curse  here- 
after. It  is  high  tiuie  we  learned  that  public  wrong 
is  even  darker  than  i)rivate  wrong  ;  the  oue  directly 
affects  the  individual,  the  other  the  communitj' — the 
one  is  limited,  the  other  almost  unlimited.  Pilate 
was  a  selfish  man  ;  the  injustice  he  perpetrated  was 
darkly  guilty,  as  he  stood  on  a  high  position,  and  re- 
presented the  majesty  and  justice  of  law.  Such  men 
ruined  themselves,  ruined  Rome. 

There  is  here  a  still  further  lesson.  Jesus  Christ  is 
power,  is  light,  is  the  Savior.  Jesus  Christ  received 
is  Redeemer;  Jesus  Christ  rejected  is  still  a  judge. 
He  was  on  trial  before  the  Jewish  nation.  His  char- 
acter, illustrated  by  his  holy  life,  his  divine  words, 
and  his  miracles,  was  before  them.  In  answer  to  the 
high  priest  he  had  answered  :  "Hereafter  ye  shall  see 
the  Son  of  Man  on  the  right  hand  of  power  and  com- 
ing in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  What  this  meant  they 
only  partially  understood.  But  what  it  means,  there 
is  no  one  here  present  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know. 
They  had  the  light,  and  denied  and  crucified  him. 
You  have  the  light,  and  it  is  for  you  to  say  to-night 


400  SERMONS   ON   THE 

whether  you  will  accept  him  as  your  Savior  or  cry, 
"  Crucify  him  !"  The  end  must  soon  come  ;  the  hour 
when  you,  like  them,  must  give  account  is  near. 
Shall  he  come  to  you  as  a  condemning  or  an  acquit- 
ting judge? 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  401 


XXIII. 


THE    CRUCIFIXION. 


"  When  Jesus,  therefore,  had  received  the  vinegar,  he 
said.  It  is  finished,  and  he  bowed  his  head,  and  gave  up 
the  ghost/' — John  xix,  30. 

We  come  now  to  the  Crucifixion.  This  is  the  great 
event,  the  consummation  of  this  wonderful  life  in  his 
work  of  atonement  for  our  sins.  It  is  described  with 
some  variations  by  all  the  evangelists ;  it  is  presup- 
posed in  all  the  remaining  writings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment; it  is  alluded  to  by  profane  writers;  it  is  the 
point  on  which  the  whole  church  of  Christ  rests  its 
hope  of  salvation.  No  sane  man,  with  the  least 
knowledge  of  history,  doubts  the  fact.  Christianity 
is  itself  the  creation  of  this  death.  Witbont  this,  it 
would  be  as  unaccountable  as  the  existence  of  the  world 
without  a  creator.  The  main  force  of  the  opposers 
has  therefore  been  directed  to  discover  some  discrep- 
ancies or  contradictions  in  the  evangelical  accounts  of 
the  event  itself.  Their  object  is,  since  they  can  not 
deny  the  fact,  to  eliminate  all  signs  of  the  supernatural 
from  the  accounts  given  of  it  by  throwing  discredit  on 
the  sacred  writers,  and  thus  reduce  the  death  of  Christ 
to  that  of  an  ordinary  man.  Their  object  is  to  show 
that  the  evangelists  made  mistakes,  and  are  not  trust- 
worthy witnesses.  They  beg  the  question  at  the  start 
34 


402  SERMONS    ON    THE 

by  denying  any  such  thing  as  inspiration,  a  miracle, 
or  a  divine  sonship,  and  consequently  an  atonement 
for  the  sins  of  men.     And  then,  having  thus  begged 
the  real  question,  their  efibrts  are  given  to  account  for 
the  statements  given,  either  by  accounting  for  these 
events  on  natural  principles,  or  by  showing  that  the 
writers  were  mistaken,  or  that  they  falsified  the  facts. 
The  result  is  that  they  try  to  make  a  history  of  their 
own,  instead  of   taking  that  which    is    given.      The 
eflbrt  is    not    to  harmonize  diversities  of  statement, 
which,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  will  arise  among 
different  and  honest  writers,  inspired  and  uninspired, 
but  to  exaggerate  these  diversities  into  contradictions, 
just  like  a  special  pleader  at  a  trial,  who  strains  every 
nerve  to  make  honest  witnesses  false  because  they  saw 
some  things  from  different  points.     If,  too,  one  writer 
mentions  one  event  and  another  omits  it,  why  the  iirst 
is  wrong;  if  one,  regarding  only  the  whole  subject, 
puts  several  things  together  without  regard  to  their 
order,  and  another  particularizes  and  brings  out  the 
parts  more  fully  in  their  real  sequence,  why  the  one 
is  wrong  and  the  other  right,  or  the  one  follows  this 
tradition  and  another  that.     In  all  this  the  animus  is 
clear  enough.     It  is  not  to  clear  up  ditiiculties,  but  to 
make  them,  and  so  to  increase  them  as  to  dishonor 
the  truthfulness  and  the  inspiration  of  the  evangelists. 
From  these  persistent  efforts  two  valuable  points  have 
been  reached.     The  iirst  is  that  no  two  of  them  recon- 
struct the  liistory  of  early  Christianity  in  the  same 
way.     There  is   no  agreement  in   the  results.     Every 
one  has  his  own  theorj',  his  own  method  of  supplying 
deficiencies.     One  advances  this  idea  and  another  as- 
sails it.     The  results  of  their  criticism  are  about  equal 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  403 

to  those  of  a  dozen  novices  in  attempting  to  fletermine 
the  soundness  of  a  hundred  genuine  bank  bills  among 
which  they  are  suspicious  there  are  man}'  that  are  not 
genuine.  One  throws  out  this  and  another  that,  until, 
if  the}'  continue  their  efforts,  there  will  none  of  them 
be  left.  Thcj  spin  the  most  contradictory  ideas  out  of 
their  own  brains,  drawing  upon  their  imagination  for 
their  facts,  and  making  inferences  from  the  statements 
before  them  as  unfounded  and  unwarranted  as  some 
of  our  geologists  and  naturalists  in  their  eftbrts  to  re- 
construct the  world  as  God  never  made  it.  The  man 
is  blind  who  attempts  to  follow  them,  and  soon  or  late, 
both  leader  and  led  will  fall  into  the  ditch.  Their  an- 
chorage is  gone,  and  wind  and  tide  float  them  here 
and  there.  Do  not  think  me  over  severe.  If  any  per- 
son will  find  four,  or  even  two  of  these  men,  who  agree 
in  anything  on  this  subject,  except  in  opposition  to 
the  supernatural,  he  will  find  what  no  one  else  has 
found. 

The  second  point  reached  is  no  less  valuable.  We 
know  how  much  and  how  little  the  most  learned  and 
acute  of  unbelievers  can  do  in  their  efforts  to  overturn 
the  faith  of  Christianity.  Some  such  have  always  been 
in  the  assault.  They  have  come  now  to  the  citadel  of 
the  faith,  to  tlie  life  of  Jesus.  Every  door,  every  point 
of  this  citadel  they  have  assailed  with  all  their  force. 
Tlie  men  within  have  often  trembled  for  its  safety. 
Now  and  then  an  honest  mind  has  been  led  astray. 
But  minds  as  acute,  as  powerful  have  always  been 
fouiul  on  the  defensive.  The  contest  soon  proves  a 
hoi.eless  one  for  the  assailants.  Truth  is  against  them; 
Christ  is  the  leader  in  opposition  to  them  ;  the  wisdom 
and  love  of  God  are  against  tliem ;  and  soon  the  Chris- 


404  SERMONS   ON    THE 

tian  loses  his  fears,  and  stands  firmer  than  ever  within 
and  upon  the  rock  of  his  salvation.  A  person  for  the 
first  time  reading  them,  thinks  they  are  certain  to  win ; 
Christianit}' is  not  what  it  claims;  but  a  little  more 
knowledge  of  them  and  their  ways,  a  fuller  knowledge 
of  the  real  nature  and  force  of  the  Christian  faith, 
drives  these  foul  eagles  aw^ay,  and  he  sees  and  know-s 
that  this  is  the  everlasting  truth.  Alas!  he  exclaims, 
these  men  know  not  what  they  attempt  to  do.  The 
life  of  the  world  is  not  to  be  committed  to  such  hands. 
The  cross  is  precious,  and  they  w'ish  (but  can  not)  to 
tear  Jesus  from  the  human  heart.  I  say,  then,  we 
know  what  all  their  skill  and  force  amounts  to.  A 
breath  of  Jesus  scatters  it  to  the  winds. 

We  come  now  to  the  record.  Jle  delivered  him  to 
be  crucified.  In  connection  with  this,  Matthew  and 
Mark  tell  us  of  the  scourging  before  he  was  led  forth. 
Luke  does  not  allude  to  it.  But  John  is  more  partic- 
ular, relates  the  fact  that,  even  after  the  scourging, 
Pilate  sought  again  to  release  him,  and  held  a  private 
conversation  with  the  Savior.  This  practice  of  scourg- 
ing before  the  final  punishment  was  common  among 
the  Komaiis.  In  this  case,  however,  the  scourging 
takes  place  before  the  condemnation,  for  the  purpose 
of  exciting  the  compassion  of  the  Jews  and  saving  the 
,Savior.  Pilate  sees  that  this  final  appeal  is  useless, 
and  surrenders  him  to  death.  The  incidents  that  fol- 
low are  either  those  wdiich  precede  every  execution,  or 
which  are  peculiar  to  this.  He  went  forth  bearing  his 
cross.  This  was  a  piece  of  timber  about  six  inches 
square,  some  ten  feet  long,  with  a  cross-piece  near  the 
top.  There  were  three  forms  of  the  cross.  The  Greek 
cross,  in  which  two  [tieces  of  wood  of  equal  length 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  405 

cross  each  other  at  less  or  more  than  a  right  angle. 
Another  form  was  that  in  which  the  upright  piece  has 
a  cross-piece  on  the  top ;  and  the  other  was  that  in 
which  this  piece  is  fastened  some  inches  below  the  top 
of  the  main  tiniher.  This,  according  to  tradition,  was 
the  form  of  that  on  which  the  Savior  was  nailed.  In 
proceeding  to  the  crucifixion,  it  was  usual  for  the  mal- 
efactor to  bear  his  cross.  This  Jesus  did;  but,  spent 
with  all  the  fatigues  of  his  fearful  night  and  trial,  after 
a  time  he  sank  under  its  weight.  A  stranger,  Simon, 
a  Cyrenean,  passing  by  and  probably  stopping  to  see 
the  procession,  the  soldiers  compel  to  bear  the  cross  to 
the  place  of  execution. 

It  was  during  this  solemn  and  sad  procession  that, 
as  Luke  tells  us,  there  occurred  one  of  those  incidents, 
which  we  can  hardly  read  without  tears,  in  view  of 
the  future.  A  vast  company  follow  the  victim  of  in- 
justice. Among  them  are  many  of  the  women  from  the 
city.  The\'  are  not  those  who  had  come  from  Galilee, 
the  special  friends  of  the  Savior.  They  were  of  those 
who  belonged  to  the  city,  or  some,  perhaps,  had  come 
up  thither  to  witness  the  Paschal  solemnities.  They 
can  not  restrain  their  feelings;  they  bewail,  tliey 
lament  for  him.  It  was  against  the  law  and  custom 
that  a  malefactor  should  be  attended  by  the  signs  of 
sorrow  that  on  other  occasions  of  death  were  exhibited. 
But  their  sorrow  is  irrepressible.  It  breaks  forth  in 
wailing  and  lamentation.  Why  was  this?  Here  is  no 
popular  hero  who  has  fought  for  them,  now  by  the 
hand  of  tyranny  torn  from  them,  and  as  he  passes  to 
execution  is  cheered  by  the  wild  enthusiasm  of  the 
masses.  The  power  on  the  throne  has  endeavored  to 
save  him.     Their  fathers,  their  brothers,  their  bus- 


406  SERMONS    ON    THE 

bands,  their  sons,  their  priests,  their  exalted  citizens 
had  hardly  ceased  that  cry,  crucify  him  !  crucify  him  ! 
his  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children,  which  appalled 
the  stern  heart  of  Pilate  and  overawed  his  conscience 
into  consent  to  this  deed  of  blood.     They  were  wo- 
men.    The  fanaticism    which    condemned    him    had 
not  tainted  them.     They  knew  something  of  his  life ; 
for  who  in  Jerusalem  was  ignorant  of  it?     They  with 
the  children   had  just   before,  when    he  entered  the 
city  gates,  swelled  the  cry,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord !     Hosannah  to  the  Son  of 
David !     His  holy,  his  sublime,  his  gracious,  his  beau- 
tiful life,  had  touched  their  hearts.     Their  hope  of  the 
Messiah,  their  feeling  that  he  was  the   Messiah,  had 
been  deeper,  more  religious,  and  profounder  than  that 
of  multitudes  of  the   men.     Their  instinctive  reason 
had  apprehended,  their  unselfish   hearts   had   appre- 
ciated   the    sublime,  the    loving    character  of  Jesus. 
From  the  time  of  the  aged  Anna  in  the  temple,  down 
to  this  closing  scene,  there  is  not  an  instance  of  taunt 
or    reproach    towards    Jesus    from    Hebrew    women. 
They  ministered  to  him  at  Bethany ;  they  broke  the 
alabaster  box  on  his  head  and  wiped   his  feet  with 
tears;  a  Roman  wife  warns  her  husband  not  to  con- 
demn this  holy  man  ;  they  shed  their  tears  over  him  in 
prospect  of  his  execution.     There  is  in  this  sublime 
Redeemer  something  that  naturally  attracts  to  him  the 
admiration,  nay,  the  love  of  the  most  lovely  and  loving 
of   our   race.     And    wherever    his    gospel    has    been 
preached,  women  in  larger  numbers  than  men  haA'e 
listened    and    believed.      And    now,  weak,  tottering, 
calmly  passing  on  to  death,  they  see  in  him  still  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  407 

Son  of  David,  and  in  his  coming  death  their  blessed 
liope.  Tlien,  as  their  lamentations  stir  his  heart,  he 
tnrns  and,  in  all  the  dignity  of  his  exalted  character, 
addresses  to  them  words  so  unique,  so  prophetic,  so 
sympatliizing,  that  only  he  could  originate  them. 
"  Daughters  of  Jerusalem  !"  How  sweet,  how  sympa- 
thetic, how  exalted,  how  thrilling  the  words  !  Lovely 
in  yourselves,  more  blessed  in  the  possession  of  such  a 
city,  such  a  nation,  such  divine  oracles,  snch  a  wonder- 
ful history,  and  with  Miriam  and  her  attendants  ye 
sang  when  the  horse  and  his  rider  sank  iu  the  sea;  ex- 
tolled in  his  poverty,  ye  sang  the  praises  of  Jehovah 
iu  the  strains  of  David,  ye  hung  your  harps  upon  the 
willows  by  the  ruins  of  Babylon ;  ye  strung  them  again 
when  Jerusalem  rose  from  the  dust;  hopeful,  loving, 
expectant,  ye  have  waited  for  me,  the  Messiah.  But 
now,  in  my  death,  ye  see  the  ruin  of  your  city,  the  fall 
of  your  nation,  the  dispersion  of  Israel.  The  glory  is 
departed;  the  long  succession  of  prophets,  the  vivid 
witnesses  for  God,  arc  gone  from  you  forever.  Aye, 
weep  for  yourselves !  Weep,  weep,  ye  noblest,  best, 
most  exalted  of  this  world  !  The  future  is  coming  in 
all  its  sadness.  Your  beauteous  temple  shall  be  a  ruin  ; 
its  ever-blazing  altars  be  overturned  ;  a  barbarian  shall 
transport  away  from  you  as  trophies  of  his  victory  its 
most  sacred  utensils.  Aye,  weep  for  yourselves  !  This 
city,  once  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  earth,  must  wit- 
ness scenes  of  sorrow  unparalleled  in  history.  Famine, 
lire,  and  sword  will  do  their  work.  Millions  shall  die 
in  destitution,  in  lust,  in  violence,  and  ye  or  your  chil- 
dren who  may  survive  must  go  forth  robed  in  sack- 
cU»th,  to  endure  for  centuries  obloquy  and  scorn  and 
persecution  even  unto  death.     For  if  on  me,  the  holy, 


408  SEEMONS   ON    THE 

the  true  Messiah,  3^0111*  fathers  and  husbands  inflict 
such  woe,  what  will  become  of  them  when,  all  ripe  for 
judgment,  the  arsenal  of  God  shall  yield  up  its  weapons 
of  vengeance  upon  those  who  murder  the  Son  of  God. 
"Weep  for  yourselves  !  Alas  !  how  swiftly,  how  terribly 
was  this  prophetic  voice  answered.  The  veil  was  rent, 
the  holy  of  holies  desecrated,  the  temple  burned,  the 
city  sacked,  then  destroyed,  the  people  that  survived 
the  awful  butchery  sold  into  returnless  slavery,  for  cen- 
turies none  dare  enter  the  rebuilt  city,  where  even  now 
a  few  sad  ones  return  to  weep  beside  those  mighty 
stones  on  which  once  rose  the  temple  of  Jehovah.  Say 
what  man  may,  Christ's  words  were  prophecy,  and 
they  have  been  all  fulfilled. 

We  pass  on  with  this  motley  crowd  through  the  city 
gates,  and  we  reach  a  place  called  Golgotha — the  place 
of  a  skull.  We  have  three  terms  for  this  place:  Gol- 
gotha, Hebrew;  Cranion,  Greek ;  Calvary,  Roman — 
all  signifying  the  same  thing,  a  skull.  Two  meanings 
are  given  to  it.  The  first  makes  the  term  stand  for  the 
place  of  the  dead,  a  place  of  burial,  a  sort  of  cemetery, 
or  a  place  of  execution.  But  the  place  of  crucifixion 
was  in  a  garden  and  not  a  cemetery ;  it  was  owned  by 
Joseph,  a  wealthy  member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  a  senator 
of  their  national  council.  In  it  there  was  hewn  out 
of  the  rock  a  new  tomb,  a  private  tomb  in  his  own 
possession.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  name  had  any 
reference  to  a  cemetery  or  to  the  skulls  of  dead  men 
there  to  be  found.  This  is  not  impossible,  but  hardly 
probable.  I  prefer  the  second  meaning.  The  term 
described  the  peculiar  form  of  the  position.  It  was  an 
elevation  that  remarkably  resembled  the  form  of  a 
skull. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  409 

This  application  of  a  name  to  a  i)lace  according  to  its 
ap[»earance  is  common  enough.  Rome  is  the  Seven- 
hilled  City.  If  this  were  so,  then  the  position  was  gen- 
erally known  by  this  marked  peculiarity.  It  was  con- 
spicuous; it  was  elevated;  it  was  just  such  a  point  as  a 
Eoman  would  choose  for  this  bloody  work.  It  was  not 
far  from  the  highway;  it  was  open  to  all;  multitudes 
might  witness  it.  We  sing  often  of  Mt.  Calvary.  The 
expression  has  been  criticised  as  untrue.  But  if  we  are 
right,  the  name  intimates  that  it  was  a  peculiar  eleva- 
tion in  form  like  a  skull,  a  small  mount,  a  position 
that  gave  the  vast  crowds  an  opportunity  to  witness 
the  fearful  scene.  But  the  identification  of  this  site 
is  another  matter.  Three  centuries  after  this  occur- 
rence, the  present  position  of  the  holy  sepulcher  was 
chosen,  and  a  church  built  over  it.  In  regard  to  this 
the  following  facts  are  to  be  considered :  1.  The  cru- 
cifixion took  place  without  the  walls  of  the  city.  This 
is  expressly  asserted.  But  the  position  of  the  holy 
sepulcher  is  now  far  within  the  city.  2.  At  that  time 
the  city  had  enjoyed  much  prosperity  for  many  years. 
Palestine  had  grown  in  population,  and  this  all  con- 
tributed to  make  the  city  strong  and  lai-ge.  It  is 
asserted  in  profane  history  that  during  the  sieges  of 
Titus,  less  than  foi'ty  years  after  this  event,  more  than 
a  million  of  inhabitants  and  strangers  were  crowded 
within  its  walls.  The  attempt,  therefore,  to  show 
that  then  the  walls  of  the  city  curved  or  angled  round 
so  conveniently  as  to  bring  the  site  of  the  Church  of 
the  Sepulcher  on  the  outside,  encounters  at  the  outset 
a  violent  presumption  against  it.  The  whole  distance 
from  this  church  to  the  outer  wall  of  the  present 
35 


410  SERMONS   OX   THE 

temple  area  is  less  than  half  a  mile,  and  nearly  a 
quarter  of  this  is  taken  up  by  the  area  itself.  To  the 
south  the  city  is  limited  by  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  to 
the  east  by  that  of  the  Kidron,  and  the  only  directions 
in  which  it  could  expand  sufUciently  were  the  west 
and  north,  and  this  would  naturally  carry  it  far 
beyond  this  assumed  site.  To  speak  of  crowding 
such  an  immense  body  of  people  within  the  space  in- 
dicated by  this  site  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
cher  carries  absurdity  on  its  face.  3.  Jesus  was  not 
only,  crucified  withiout  the  walls,  but  in  a  garden. 
Josephus  informs  us,  as  I  mentioned  in  ray  last  dis- 
course, that  the  wealthier  inhabitants  had  their  gar- 
dens and  orchards  covering  all  *the  suburbs.  That  at 
this  period  of  the  history  of  the  city  the  spot  occupied 
by  this  church  could  have  been  a  garden  or  orchard 
is  very  improbable.  4.  If  Ave  are  right  in  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  name — an  elevation  in  the  form  of  a 
human  skull — then  there  is  everything  against  the 
supposition  that  Calvary  was  what  is  now  called  the 
Holy  Sepulcher.  The  present  sepulcher  is  some 
eighteen  feet  below  the  street  near  the  church.  There 
are  no  indications  that  this  "street  has  been  filled  up 
largely.  Calvary,  according  to  this,  would  be  in  a 
hollow.  The  sepulcher  itself  is  very  cramped  and 
small,  dug  out  of  the  rock  from  the  surface  down- 
ward, and  not  as  the  Jews  generally  made  their  tombs, 
from  the  side  face,  working  in  laterally.  These  con- 
siderations are  all  against  the  truthfulness  of  this  site 
as  that  of  Calvary.  Dr.  Robinson  and  others,  after 
canvassing  the  whole  subject,  come  to  this  conclusion. 
Others,  however,  are  just  as  strenuous  the  other  way. 
Mr.    Barclay,    a   missionary    resident    at    Jerusalem, 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  411 

tliinks  tlie  crucifixion  took  place  east  or  northeast 
of  the  city  over  the  Kiclron.  Doubt  and  darkness 
rest  upon  the  actual  site  of  this  awful  tragedy. 
Jerusalem  is  there  still ;  but  the  glorious  city  of 
the  past  is  no  more.  Its  great  natural  features 
can  not  be  obliterated.  The  site  of  their  temple, 
Mount  Zion,  the  dwelling-place  of  kings,  Hinnom  and 
Kidron  and  Olivet,  are  all  there  ;  Ave  know  that  on 
this  soil  our  Savior  preached  and  prayed,  and  suffered 
and  ascended  ;  we  know  that  here  the  most  amazing 
events  in  the  history  of  our  race  transpired.  But  we 
can  not  say  that  here,  just  liere,  he  stood  and  taught; 
just  here  he  was  in  an  agony  ;  just  here  he  was  tried  ; 
just  here  he  hung  upon  the  cross  ;  just  here  he  was 
entombed  ;  just  here  he  ascended.  Eighteen  centuries 
liave  gone  since  Titus  planted  his  engines  against  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem  ;  compassed  her  round  Avith  his 
flaming  legions  ;  burned  her  temple  ;  slaughtered  her 
people  ;  leveled  her  walls,  her  palaces,  and  her  hum- 
bler dwellings,  and  sowed  the  very  ground  with  salt 
in  the  execution  of  his  terrible  ])Urpose.  Individual 
sites,  save  those  of  nature,  w^ere  overwhelmed  or  ob- 
scured. War  is  fearfully  destructive,  not  only  of  life, 
but  of  all  else,  however  dear.  lie  did  his  work.  A 
wretched  village  grew  up  on  the  conquered  city.  It 
grew  into  size  and  strength.  It  was  conquered  by  the 
Arab,  by  the  Turk,  by  the  Crusader,  by  the  Arab 
again.  What  wonder  that  after  these  centuries  of 
desolation  we  can  not  mark  the  site  of  Calvary,  and 
tell  just  where  the  Son  of  God  died  ami  was  buried. 
It  is  not  on  the  earthl}'  position  of  the  cross,  nor  on 
the  cross  itself,  it  is  on  the  Son  of  God  who  hung  there. 


412  SERMONS    ON    THE 

we  fix  our  faith  ;  we  suffer  uo  material  associations  to 
come  between  our  hearts  and  him  who  bore  our  sins 
and  became  a  curse  for  us. 

Before  he  is  fastened  to  the  cross  Jesus  is  offered 
wine  mingled  w^ith  vinegar  and  gall ;  a  potion  often 
given  to  criminals  to  stupefy  their  sensibilities  and 
enable  them  better  to  endure  the  approaching  suf- 
fering. He  rejects  it ;  for  the  work  of  salvation  is  to 
be  wrought  out  with  an  unclouded  mind  and  a  body 
sensitive  to  the  extreme  of  human  suffering.  Disrobed 
of  his  clothes,  he  is  then  nailed  to  the  cross.  It  has 
been  questioned  whether  his  hands  and  his  feet,  or  his 
hands  only,  were  nailed.  Both  methods  were  practiced 
at  times.  So  men  were  sometimes  crucified  with  the 
head  downward.  But  two  things  seem  to  settle  this 
question  for  us.  Jesus,  after  his  resurrection,  appealed 
to  the  personal  appearance  of  his  hands  and  feet  as 
pierced,  to  indicate  that  he  was  really  the  crucified 
one.  Then  all  the  early  writers,  who  knew  well  the 
usual  form  of  crucifixion,  speak  of  the  nailing  of  both 
hands  and  feet.  With  this  we  rest  in  the  conviction 
that  both  were  nailed  to  the  tree.  His  dress  was 
divided  among  the  soldiers  immediately  charged  with 
his  execution,  to  whom  it  of  right  and  by  custom  be- 
longed. 

Crucifixion  itself  was  a  Roman,  and  not  a  Jewish 
mode  of  execution.  But  it  was  so  ordered  of  God 
that  in  this,  and  in  the  scourging,  the  very  method  of 
his  death  should  more  fully  correspond  with  the  terms 
in  which  it  had  been  foretold.  He  bare  our  griefs 
and  carried  our  sorrows  ;  in  his  stripes  we  are  healed. 
The  22d  Psalm,  the  53d  of  Isaiah,  open  to  us  the  very 
transactions  of  tliis  and  its  antecedent  scenes. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  413 

In  respect  to  the  time  of  the  crucifixion,  there  is  a 
seeming  discrepancy.  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke 
speak  of  the  sixth  hour  from  which  the  darkness  con- 
tinued until  the  ninth  hour,  that  is  from  our  twelve  to 
three.  But  Mark,  in  respect  to  the  condemnation  and 
the  opening  scenes  of  the  crucifixion,  says  it  was  the 
third  hour,  or  our  nine  o'clock.  John,  however,  al- 
luding to  the  condemnation  and  the  events  following, 
says  it  was  about  the  sixth  hour.  The  best  expla- 
nation which  harmonizes  these  two  is  this:  It  was  cus- 
tomar}-,  not  only  to  mark  the  day  by  twelve  hours, 
beginning  and  ending  with  six  o'clock,  but  it  was 
usual  also,  practically,  to  divide  the  day  into  four 
parts,  still  retaining  the  subdivisions.  Thus  it  was  the 
first  hour,  or  division,  from  six  to  nine;  the  third 
hour,  from  nine  to  twelve ;  the  sixth  extended  from 
twelve  to  three.  The  amount  of  Mark's  statement 
would  be  that  the  condemnation  and  the  crucifixion 
occupied  the  time  within  the  division  extending  from 
nine  to  twelve;  while  John  asserts  that  this  whole 
scene  culminated  towards,  or  about  the  sixth  hour, 
that  is,  towards  twelve  o'clock.  Thus,  in  effect,  with- 
out resorting  to  any  minute  description,  their  words 
amount  to  the  same  thing. 

It  is  also  said  in  Matthew,  that  the  thieves  crucified 
with  him  upbraided  him;  while  Luke,  in  that  most 
touching  paragraph,  gives  us  the  repentance  of  one  of 
these,  and  his  pardon  by  the  suffering  Savior.  The 
explanation  is  easy  to  him  who  seeks  it.  When  first 
they  were  brought  to  crucifixion,  these  men  railed  alike 
on  Jesu-,  But  the  spirit  which  he  manifested  affected 
them  differently.  And  in  this  the  various  success  of 
the   gospel  in    this  world  is  manifested.      To  one  it 


414  SERMONS   ON    THE 

proves  a  savor  of  life,  to  another  of  death  ;  one  heart 
is  touched  and  repents,  the  other  rails  on  and  curses 
to  the  end.  They  knew  of  Jesus  before  ;  but  now 
they  are  brought  into  a  position  of  deeper  hostility  or 
sincere  repentance.  One  heart,  in  spite  of  his  crimes 
and  his  foul  upbraiding  a  little  before,  is  touched,  is 
melted,  is  persuaded  this  is  the  Son  of  God,  and,  be- 
lieving, prays  to  be  remembered  when  Jesus  shall  come 
in  his  kingdom.  Dying  repentances  are  not  usually 
to  be  relied  on  as  real  and  true.  But  here  is  a  case  of 
sincerity  ;  and  he  must  be  a  bold  man  who  dare  assert 
that  it  is  the  only  one  that  ever  occurred.  Deeply  as 
I  feel  the  hazard  of  trusting  the  redemption  of  the 
soul  to  a  dying  hour;  certain  as  I  am  that  the  multi- 
tude are  then  in  no  state  to  repent,  and  that  many  who 
seem  to  evince  penitence  then  are  often  deceived,  yet 
it  is  not  for  me  to  limit  the  grace  or  the  mercy  of 
Christ.  I  know  not  what  God  may  do  or  accept  at 
that  hour  ;  but  I  do  know  it  is  a  fearful  and  hazardous 
thing  to  hang  the  hope  of  immortality  on  such  a 
slender  thread,  and  trust  to  a  possible  may  be,  the  im- 
mortal interests  of  the  soul.  I  cry  to  you,  therefore, 
now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  now  is  the  day  of  mercy. 
Believe  and  avow  your  faith  in  Christ  now,  in  the 
hour  of  health,  and  you  will  be  prepared  alike  to  live 
or  die. 

Into  the  lingering  agonies  of  death  by  crucifixion, 
the  most  accursed  form  of  execution  ever  invented,  I 
can  not  enter.  Nor  is  this  the  time  to  enter  fully  into 
that  spiritual  anguish,  which  far  outweighs  that  of 
physical  suffering,  which  was  concentrated  in  him  as 
the  sufferer  for  the  sins  of  the  race.  ISTo  one  can  read 
the  descriptions   of  these   last    hours  without   being 


LIFE    OF   CHEIST.  415 

deeply  affected.  But  one  tbiiig  is  most  manifest 
through  it  all :  the  spirit,  the  bearing,  the  words  of 
the  sufferer,  so  sublime,  so  god-like,  so  «wonderful. 
Thiidc  of  these  for  a  moment,  and  see  how.  they  har- 
monize with  his  character  as  tlie  Son  of  God  suffering 
for  our  sins.  Hear  his  words  to  the  wailing  women  ; 
how  sad,  not  for  liim,  but  for  them  !  How  prophetic  of 
what  soon  fell  upon  them  !  Hear  his  prayer  for  his 
murderers  :  Father,  forgive  thcni  !  Hear  his  answer 
to  the  penitent  thief;  to-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
Paradise  !  See  liim  refusing  the  stupefying  potion, 
that  with  a  sensitive  body  and  an  unclouded  mind  he 
may  bear  all  the  agony  !  Hear  those  words,  the  sad- 
dest, most  expressive  ever  uttered :  31y  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  when  the  power  of  death 
culminated  over  his  soul.  Then  listen  to  his  dying 
and  triumphant  word  :  It  is  finished  !  and  tell  me  who 
is  this  ?  who  can  this  be  ?  and  wonder  not  that  this 
death  touches  the  hearts  of  millions  and  on  this  Re- 
deemer they  rest  their  hopes  of  heaven.  Here  is  sym- 
pathy with  humanity;  here  is  the  prophetic  insight; 
here  is  the  spirit  of  personal  forgiveness;  here  is  the 
declaration  and  the  assertion  of  his  power  to  save  the 
penitent ;  here  are  the  sorrows  of  hell  as  he  bears  sin  ; 
here  is  filial  love  caring  for  his  mother  ;  here  is  the 
triumphant  affirmation  that  his  work  is  done  ;  here  is 
holy  confidence  in  God  :  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  com- 
mit my  spirit !  Such  a  death-scene,  the  most  extraor- 
dinary in  the  world's  history,  belongs  only  to  the  most 
extraordinary  being  in  all  history.  But  this  is  not  all. 
Nature  itself,  as  if  in  deepest  sympathy  with  his  suf- 
ferings, is  as  if  troubled  and  distressed.  It  is  the  time 
of  the  full  moon,  when  the  passover  was  kept,  and 


416  SERMONS    ON    THE 

when  there  could  be  no  natural  eclipse.  All  that 
morning  the  sun  had  shone  with  April  serenity.  But 
when  he  hnd  reached  his  meridian,  a  change  begins. 
At  the  mid-day  hour  Jesus  is  hanging  between  heaven 
and  earth.  Without  any  apparent  cause,  a  sudden 
ohscuration  darkens  the  sun  ;  it  dee|)ens  and  spreads 
over  the  Avhole  land  ;  it  becomes  darkness  ;  the  fowls 
retire  to  their  nightly  repose  ;  there  is  terror  on  the 
minds  of  men  ;  it  deepens,  it  continues  for  three  honrs, 
when  the  death-Avail  rises,  "  My  God,  m}"  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me  !  "  Then  the  earth  moves,  the 
veil  in  the  temple  is  rent,  Jesus  cries,  "  It  is  finished  !  " 
"  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit."  The 
work  of  atonement  is  over  ;  the  light  returns,  and  na- 
ture resumes  her  wonted  courses,  as  the  sun  breaks 
forth  upon  the  world.  The  dispensation  of  Moses  is 
at  an  end  ;  that  of  Christ  is  commenced,  and  hence- 
forth Christianity  is  to  run  its  course  and  bear  its 
tidings  of  salvation  round  the  earth.  Then  first  the 
voice  of  the  Gentile  world  is  heard  in  solemn  confes- 
sion of  its  faith  in  Jesus.  The  world  outside  the  Jew 
sat  there  in  the  person  of  the  centurion  and  his  fellow- 
soldiers,  watching  for  the  end.  He  hears  the  words,  he 
sees  the  demeanor  of  Jesus,  he  is  awed  b}^  the  dark- 
ness, he  feels  the  earth  move  and  rock,  and  with  deep 
emotion  he  cries,  "  Truly,  this  is  a  righteous  man  ;  this 
is  the  Son  of  God."  Soon  that  cry  is  to  be  taken  up 
and  re-echoed  from  lip  to  lip,  till  it  reaches  the  bounds 
of  the  empire,  "  This  is  the  Son  of  God."  From  that 
hour  a  fearful  darkness  began  to  settle  on  the  Jewish 
state;  but  out  of  it  the  light  of  a  crucified  and  a  risen 
Savior  broke  forth  to  illuminate  the  Gentile  world. 
To-day  we  sit  in  this  Christian  temple  in  the  calm 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  417 

liopo  of  mercy  thr()u<^li  the  crucified.  The  forgiven 
malefactor  has  been  niultiiilicd  into  a  company  no  man 
can  number.  Who  now  shall  begin  to  describe  the 
resnlts  that  have  tiown  from  that  love,  to  bless  the 
world  ?  or  who  liereafter  shall  enumerate  the  benedic- 
tions of  that  fearful  suffering  in  opening  the  gates  of 
a  better  life  upon  our  mined  humanity?  The  re- 
deemed in  heaven  cry,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb,  for  he 
was  slain  for  us  :  the  redeemed  on  earth  here  in  anti- 
cipation join  in  that  triumphant  song.  Who  is  there 
here  to-night  that  can  not  say,  Glory,  honor,  power, 
and  might  be  unto  the  Lamb  forever  and  ever ! 


418  SERMONS   ON    THE 


XXIV. 

AFTER  DEATH  AND  BEFORE  THE  RESURRECTION. 

"  There  laid  they  Jesus,  therefore,  because  of  the  Jeios' 
preparation  day ;  for  the  sepulcher  was  nigh  at  hand^ — 
John  xix :  42. 

"  To-day  shalt  thoa  he  with  me  in  Paradise.'" — Luke 
xxiii :  43. 

We  have  followed  Christ  from  the  hall  of  Pilate  to 
Calvary.  "We  have  seen  him  nailed  upon  the  cross, 
and  lifted  up  between  heaven  and  earth.  We  have 
heard  those  wonderful  words  which  he  there  uttered. 
We  have  witnessed  the  fearful  agony  when  he  was 
made  a  curse  for  us.  We  saw  him  when  he  committed 
himself  to  his  Father,  and  all  was  over.  We  wish 
now  to  notice  a  few  things  that  occurred  after  his 
death  and  before  his  resurrection,  and  then  follow,  as 
far  as  it  is  permitted  us,  his  departing  spirit  to  the 
other  world.  It  was  usual  to  let  the  bodies  of  the 
crucified  hang  until  some  time  after  it  was  made  certain 
that  death  had  done  its  work.  The  time  varied  during 
which  death  ensued,  from  a  few  hours  to  a  day  or 
more.  But  we  are  here  on  Jewish  soil ;  Ave  are  near 
Jerusalem.  The  Sabbath  was  approaching;  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Pascal  week ;  tlie  great  Sabbath  of  the 
year.  Tens  of  thousands  were  gathered  there  to  cel- 
ebrate that  highest  solemnity  of  their  religion.  It  was 
not  fit,  nor  in  accordance  with  their  rules,  that  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  419 

bodies  of  malefactors  should  remain  exposed  on  this 
day.  The  event  of  death  must  be  hastened,  if  neces- 
sary, that  they  might  be  buried  out  of  sight.  The 
chief  Jews,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  murder  the  inno- 
cent on  the  da}^  of  preparation  for  the  Sabbath,  are 
too  conscientiously  obedient  to  their  law  to  suffer  the 
wounded  one  to  remain  for  that  day  on  the  cross. 
They  hasten  to  Pilate,  and  obtain  a  public  order  to 
have  the  legs  of  the  crucified  broken,  and  thus  crush 
out  the  decaying  embers  of  life.  A  party  of  soldiers 
immediately  hasten  to  perform  this  work.  The  male- 
factors on  either  side  of  Jesus  are  still  alive;  their 
legs  are  broken.  They  come  to  Jesus  ;  the  heart  has 
ceased  to  beat ;  the  coldness  of  death  has  begun  ;  he 
is  dead.  But,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  instead 
of  breaking  his  legs,  one  of  them  plunges  his  spear 
into  his  side.  This  stroke,  had  he  been  alive  and  vig- 
orous, would  have  killed  him.  Now  it  serves  another 
purpose.  A  remarkable  result  followed.  Instantly, 
there  followed  the  spear  a  stream  of  blood  and  water. 
John  is  near  enough  ;  sees  it;  marks  it;  and  gives  his 
solemn  attestation  to  it.  Hear  his  words :  "And  he  that 
saw  it  bare  record,  and  his  record  is  true,  and  he  kuow- 
eth  that  he  saith  is  true,  that  3'e  might  believe."  Why, 
then,  does  he  insist  on  this  statement  as  of  special 
im[»ortance — something  they  might  believe?  Two 
answers  are  given  :  The  first,  that,  by  this  testimony, 
John  uieant  to  give  assurance  to  some  minds  that 
Christ  was  reall}'  dead ;  such  a  spear-stroke,  attended  by 
such  a  remarkable  effusion  of  blood  and  water,  made 
assurance  of  death  doubly  sure.  The  second  answer  is 
based  upon  the  fact  that  such  an  effusion  of  blood  and 
water  from  a  dead  body  is  unnatural.     It  is  certain 


420  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

that  the  ph^^siological  grounds  for  such  a  fact  are  not 
satisfactory.  I  need  not  occupy  3'our  time  now  in 
stating  them.  But  if  this  fact  can  not  be  accounted 
for  on  natural  grounds,  then  it  was  supernatural,  and 
in  harmony  with  all  the  other  supernatural  events  that 
attended  his  death.  For  this  reason,  that  it  was  out 
of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  John  insisted  on  it 
as  a  testimony  to  the  divine  power  which  signalized 
this  great  fact.  Either  of  these  answers  is  sufficient, 
according  as  the  facts  are  understood.  The  event  itself 
is  specially  stated  by  the  apostle  as  real  and  important. 
If  it  can  not  be  accounted  for  on  any  natural  grounds, 
as  some  assert,  then  it  is  allowable  and  necessary  for 
us  to  regard  it  as  miraculous.  But  we  are  to  remem- 
ber that  the  supernatural  in  the  Bible  generally  asserts 
itself  so  clearly  that  man  can  not  deny  it  without  de- 
nying the  truth  and  the  inspiration  of  the  sacred 
writers.  In  this  case,  John  records  the  event  as  im- 
portant, without  obliging  us,  from  anything  he  says, 
to  regard  it  as  miraculous. 

But  now  the  object  of  the  Jews  was  accomplished; 
Jesus  was  dead.  He  was  crucified;  he  was  slain. 
Among  those  who  had  witnessed  this  scene  was  Jo- 
seph of  Arimathea,  an  honorable  counsellor,  who  had 
not  given  his  voice  to  crucify  the  Savior ;  who,  indeed, 
waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  Shortly  after  the 
close  of  these  proceedings,  he  repaired,  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  Jews,  to  the  house  of  Pilate,  and, 
alone,  boldly  entered  in  and  asked  for  the  body'  of 
Jesus.  Of  this  the  Jews  knew  nothing  at  the  time. 
They  supposed  that,  as  in  other  cases,  his  legs 
would  be  broken,  and  after  a  time  he  would  be 
thrust  into  a  pit  with  the  two  malefactors,  on   the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  421 

grounds  appropriated  to  those  who  had  died  thus 
ignomiiiioLisly.  But  it  -was  not  so  to  be;  as  they  had 
fulfilled  prophecy  in  killing  him,  Joseph  was  to  fulfill 
prophecy  in  burying  him.  Pilate  is  amazed  at  the 
report  of  his  sudden  death.  He  calls  a  centurion, 
who  testifies  to  the  fiict.  His  wonder  was  natural 
enough.  The  crucified  lingered  for  twelve  hours,  and 
sometimes  for  two  days.  The  breaking  of  the  legs 
only  accelerated  death,  but  did  not  immediately  pro- 
duce it.  Jesus  had  hung  on  the  cross  only  between 
three  and  four  hours  before  his  death,  and  shortly  after 
he  had  received  the  wound  in  his  side.  But  when  as- 
sured of  the  fact  officially,  he  gave  liberty  to  Joseph 
to  receive  the  body.  This  was  sometimes  done  as  a 
special  favor  to  the  friends  of  malefactors.  Pilate,  in 
this  case,  would  naturally  accord  with  such  a  request. 
It  is  now  even  ;  the  Sabbath  was  nigh,  which  with  the 
Jews  began  at  sunset.  Joseph,  therefore,  hurries  liis 
preparations  for  the  burial,  in  which  he  is  aided  by 
Nicodemus,  another  of  the  secret  friends  of  Jesus.  In 
the  place  where  he  was  crucified  there  was  a  garden. 
AVhether  the  crucifixion  actually  took  place  in  the 
garden  itself,  or  near  to  it,  is  of  no  consequence  here. 
In  this  garden  Joseph  had  hewn  a  new  tomb  out  of  the 
solid  rock  ;  it  was  tenantless.  Taking  down  the  hody 
from  the  cross,  they  wrapped  it  reverently  in  linen  with 
the  spices  usually  employed  by  the  Jews  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  dead  for  burial.  Gently  they  deposit  the 
body  in  the  tomb  ;  the}'  roll  the  large  stone  door,  which 
ran  often  in  a  groove,  against  the  opening,  and  Jesus 
was  entombed.  There  were  here  no  funeral  rites;  no 
wailing  lamentations.  It  was  done  in  silence — in  the 
deep  hush  of  silent  thought  and  sail  disa[i[toiutment.  A 


422  SERMONS   ON    THE 

few  only  are  present.  Mary  Magdalene,  Mary  the 
mother  of  James  and  Jos-es,  and  the  mother  of  Zebe- 
dee's  children  are  among  them,  and,  sitting  opposite 
the  tomb,  watch  with  tearful  interest  the  closing  scene. 
But  now  the  entrance  is  closed  ;  Joseph  and  Nicode- 
mus  retire  ;  the  faithful,  loving  disciples,  linerering  in 
sadness,  slowlj^  leave  the  tomb.  Oh,  how  the  heart 
clings  to  the  forms  of  those  we  love  !  How  we  Avatch 
their  sepulchers  !  But  here  Avas  the  body  of  one,  more 
than  a  friend,  the  friend  of  friends ;  the  friend  of  sin- 
ners ;  the  mighty  Savior  who  had  brought  peace  to 
their  hearts — the  peace  of  pardon,  the  grace  of  God. 
They  tear  themselves  away  ;  the  sun  has  set,  the  Sab- 
bath begun  ;  one  by  one  the  stars  come  out  and  shine 
down  upon  that  tomb  where  lies  the  earthly  bodj^  of 
him  who  made  them.  Darkness  and  solitude  are 
there.  The  mangled  body  of  the  Lord  sleeps,  rests 
there.  The  thorn  crown,  the  scourge,  the  heavy  cross, 
the  nails,  the  spear  trouble  it  not.  The  consecrated 
flesh  in  which  the  Redeemer  lived  and  suffered,  sleeps 
now";  it  only  sleeps  in  preparation  for  another  scene, 
a  bright,  august,  and  blissful  awakening.  His  enemies 
have  wreaked  their  vengeance  upon  him  ;  his  friends 
have  laid  his  body  awfiy  in  the  sepulcher,  where  no 
eye  sees  him,  no  rude  hand  shall  sacrilegiously  invade 
its  rest.  But,  no  !  his  enemies  are  not  done  yet ;  they 
at  least  are  not  at  rest.  What  can  they  fear,  now  that 
the  body  of  the  murdered  one  is  safe  in  the  tomb  ?  Ah  ! 
the  wicked  are  never  at  rest.  The  deeds  of  sin  are  Are 
of  hell  in  their  souls.  Their  restless  thoughts  allow 
them  no  peace.  Peace,  peace,  there  is  no  peace,  saith 
my  God,  to  the  wicked  !  Conscience  is  a  teri-ible  inmate 
of  the  sinner's  bosom,  and  the  thouglit  of  Christ  is  a 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  423 

terror  to  tlieiu  still.  lie  Avho  con  Id  raise  the  dead 
niuy  rise  himself.  Then  come  home  to  them  the 
words  they  had  heard  he  spake.  After  three  days  he 
Avill  rise  again.  Agitated,  alarmed,  the}'-  inquire  where 
he  is  bnricd  ;  they  lind  he  is  laid  in  Joseph's  tomb. 
Oh  !  they  will  watch  him  ;  they  will  prevent  the  ful- 
fillment of  his  words.  It  is  the  Sabbath,  the  holiest 
Sabbath  of  the  year,  devoted  only  to  high  and  sacred 
employments.  No  matter  ;  a  troubled  conscience  with 
a  foul  heart  knows  no  law.  Trembling,  they  force 
their  way  to  the  presence  of  a  heathen  judge  ;  they  tell 
him  of  the  prophecy  ;  they  beg  of  him  the  appoint- 
ment of  sentinels  to  watch  the  tomb,  ostensibly  to 
guard  the  body  from  theft,  lest  his  disciples  should 
come  and  steal  away  this  mangled  corpse,  and  then  the 
last  error  would  be  worse  than  the  first.  These  men, 
professing  to  be  most  conscientious  in  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  are  not  afraid  to  murder  the  innocent 
and  then  to  violate  the  Sabbath  in  providing  means  to 
guard  the  murdered  form.  But  why  would  the  last 
error  be  worse  than  the  first?  Would  the  mere  asser- 
tion by  a  few  weak  men,  unsupported  by  facts,  of  the 
resurrection  avail  to  disturb  the  public  mind  ?  Oh  ! 
there  is  a  fear  that  Christ  mav  rise  !  Pilate  grants 
their  requests,  and  then  on  that  Sabbath  morning, 
amidst  the  crowds  hastening  to  their  paschal  solemni- 
ties, under  the  light  of  the  blessed  sun,  a  company  of 
Koman  soldiers  are  marched  forth  to  watch  Joseph's 
sepulcher.  But  even  this  is  not  enough  ;  although  it 
was  death  for  a  ]\oman  soldier  to  sleep  at  his  post  or 
neglect  his  watch,  conscience  still  fears.  So  they  not 
only  set  a  watch,  but  they  actually  seal  the  stone  door, 
so  that  it  can  not  be  moved  without  breaking  it.    Now 


424  SERMONS   ON    THE 

all  is  secure  as  far  as  man  can  make  it ;  now  they  can 
return  to  the  temple  and  worship  God.  They  have 
killed  Christ ;  they  have  imprisoned  his  corpse  in  the 
sepulcher  ;  they  have  guarded  against  the  possibility 
of  imposture  ;  and  now  they  may  rest.  We  shall  see. 
Here,  however,  the  body  of  Jesus  rests  through  the 
Sabbath  undisturbed  by  the  mad  rush  of  the  multi- 
tudes, by  the  pains  of  crucifixion,  by  the  watchful 
sentinels  who  guard  it  from  without.  But  where  is 
Jesus  with  his  human  soul  ?  Where  does  he  spend 
this  first  Sabbath  of  his  rest  from  all  the  bloody  toils 
and  anguish  of  his  life  on  earth  ?  We  must  go  back 
a  little  and  hear  his  words  spoken  to  the  penitent 
malefactor,  while  they  hung  upon  the  cross.  To-day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.  First  of  all  you 
will  notice  that  this  word  not  only  speaks  his  pardon 
and  his  salvation,  but  it  is  prophetic  of  the  time  of  his 
death.  To-day — a  few  hours  would  elapse  before  to- 
day would  be  past.  The  crucified  naturally  would 
linger  for  many  hours,  far  into  the  next  day,  and  often 
into  that  succeeding  it.  Who  knew,  at  that  hour,  that 
before  the  sun  set  and  darkness  covered  the  earth,  his 
legs  should  be  broken  and  his  body,  alive  or  dead,  should 
be  thrust  away  into  the  grave  and  put  out  of  sight  for- 
ever. Only  Jesus  knew  it,  and,  in  the  ver}^  terms  of 
pardon  and  promised  salvation,  declared  that  to-day  his 
soul  should  be  released  from  the  body  and  ascend  to 
the  blessedness  of  the  redeemed.  '■'■To-day  shalt  thou 
be  with  me  in  Paradise."  Here,  then,  let  us  dwell  a 
few  moments  on  this  wovdi  Paradise.  Jesus,  in  all  his 
instruction  to  his  disciples  and  his  popular  discourses, 
never  uses  it.  Paul  once  employs  it,  when  he  speaks 
of  himself  or  some  other  person  as  having  been  caught 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  425 

up  into  Paradise  and  hearing  unutterable  things;  and 
John,  in  the  Revelation,  uses  it  symbolically  :  "  To 
him  that  overcometh,  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of 
life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of  God." 
The  word  itself  is  of  Persian  order.  It  denoted  those 
beautiful  and  fruitful  gardens  which  they  were  so  fond 
of  creating,  and  which  to  them  involved  the  highest 
luinian  delights,  just  as  Eden  represents  to  us  the  scene 
into  which  Adam  was  first  introduced.  Thence  it  passed 
into  Palestine,  and  here  attained  a  higher  meaning. 
ISTot  to  speak  now  of  the  speculations  of  the  rabbinical 
schools,  it  gradually  came  to  stand  in  the  popular  mind 
for  a  far-off  land  after  death,  where  no  sun  should  smite 
nor  cold  chill,  where  soft  breezes  ever  blew,  fruits  grew 
spontaneoush',  and  flowers  adorned  the  hills  and  val- 
ley's— a  region  of  blessedness  and  rest.  Now,  Jesus, 
in  addressing  the  dying  thief,  his  mind  already  peni- 
tent, spake  in  language  which  was  familiar  to  him. 
Paradise  to  him  was  a  familiar  word,  representing  to 
him,  in  contrast  with  his  present  agonies  and  sorrows, 
a  place  of  rest,  of  peace,  of  purity-,  of  blessedness. 
His  mind,  exalted  by  his  sorrowful  experience  and 
spiritual  exercises,  would  grasp  at  once  the  higher 
idea  of  holiness  and  pardon  in  the  j^resence  of  the 
Good.  iS^othing  more  than  this  word  uttered  by  Jesus 
was  needed  to  excite  hope,  and  be  assured  of  pardon 
and  a  better  life  beyond  the  grave.  But  this  is  not 
all.  It  is  not  said, ''  To-day  shalt  thoa  be  in  Paradise  ;'' 
but, ''To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.  I, 
too,  shall  lead  the  way  ;  both  of  us  shall  enter  that 
place  of  J03%" — where  Jesus  went  immediately  when 
he  committed  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  heavenly 
36 


426  SERMONS   ON    THE 

Father ;    thither  went   the  penitent  malefactor.     ISTo 
place  of  discipline,  of  expiation  for  his  sins,  of  purga- 
torial tires  (of  which  some  foolishly  dream),  intervened 
between  the  agony  of  the  cross  and  the  bliss  of  Para- 
dise.    "  To-day  thon  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise." 
As  the  lightning  Hashes  from  the  far  distant  cloud  to 
the  earth,  as  the  light  passes  from  orb  to  orb,  so  up- 
ward passed  this  penitent  soul  and  this  all-perfect  soul 
into  the  joys  of  Paradise.     But  what  is  this  Christian 
Paradise?     It  is  a  purely  spiritual  state.     Souls  enter 
there.     The  sensuous  and  the  sensnal  are  not  there. 
Men  turn  symbols  into  facts.     They  are  ever  likening 
the  future  to  the  present;  the  Poman,  the  Greek,  the 
Mohammedan,  the  wild  Indian,  differing  so  Avidely  in 
their  culture  and  civilization,  are  ever  anxious  to  as- 
similate the  future  to  the  present.     Put  Christianity 
spiritualizes  this  place,  the  phice  of  souls.     Then  it  is 
a  holy  place.     Nothing  that  defiles  the  heart,  nothing 
that  is  not  in  full  sympathy  with  a  pure,  a  loving,  a 
believing  heart,  enters  there.     It  is  put  in   contrast 
with   the   future  state  of  the  wicked.     Abraham  is 
tbere ;  but  Dives  is  not  there.     The  unbelieving,  the 
impure,  are  not  there.     It  is  a  state  of  blessedness. 
"  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Jjord,  from  hence- 
forth; yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from 
their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them."    There 
is  knowledge,  there  is  life  there,  which  are  unutterable 
to  human   ears.     It  is  an  intermediate  state.     It  is  not 
tlie  state  in  which  the  naked  soul  without  its  resur- 
rected body  is  forever  to  abide.     The  wicked,  with 
the  devil   and  his  angels,  have  their  state  by  them- 
selves, waiting  the  resurrection  and  the  final  judg- 
ment.    The  saints  have  their  blessed  state  near  to  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  427 

throne,  where  they  abide,  waiting-  the  final  manifesta- 
tion of  Jesus  in  that  day  and  the  putting  on  of  the 
spiritualized  forms  which  they  enter  at  the  resurrec- 
tion.    Sucli  is  the  state  of  Paradise. 

But  wliere,  oh  !  where  is  this  Paradise  ?  Men,  in 
their  pride  of  intellect  or  the  presumptions  of  their 
knowledge  of  the  other  world,  are  ever  eager  to  local- 
ize and  materialize  the  dwelling-place  of  Gods  and 
men.  The  ancients  seated  Jehovah  and  many  of  his 
associates  on  mountain-tops  ;  some  they  placed  in  the 
ocean,  tlie  lakes,  the  rivers,  the  stormy  north.  ]Man 
they  placed  after  death  in  Tartarus,  deep  down  in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  with  its  compartments  for  differ- 
ent classes  of  sinners,  and  its  Acheron  river,  across 
which  only  the  buried  dead  could  pass.  And  so  one 
of  the  grandest  of  our  poets,  following  their  lead,  visits, 
like  Virgil,  these  seats  of  hell,  and  then  passes  on  to 
the  seats  of  bliss.  And  we,  too,  so  accustomed  to  see, 
to  hear,  to  embrace  the  departed,  cry  out,  as  thev 
vanish  from  us:  Oh!  whither  have  they  gone? 
Wliere  is  their  dwelling-place  ?  Are  they  in  the  air 
around  us  ?  We  long  again  to  hear  the  voice,  to  see 
the  shadowy  form,  or  know  just  where  they  dwell. 
But  Christianity  answers  nothing  to  gratify  these 
earthly  cravings.  It  brings  before  us  a  spiritual  world. 
Its  voice  is  solely  a  word  of  faith.  Believe  the  prom- 
ise. All  is  well.  They  are  blessed,  though  you  see, 
though  you  hear  them  not.  It  gives  us  sometimes  sym- 
bols, but  never  localizes.  It  gives  us  assurances,  never 
the  things  which  here  are  unutterable.  We  walk  by 
faith,  not  by  sight.  It  is  enough  for  us  that  God,  the 
unseen,  holds  all  space,  all  time,  all  eternity,  in  the 
hollow   of  His    hand.      It   is   disputed    among   men 


428  SERMONS   ON    THE 

Avhether  the  stars  are  inhabited.  God  holds  the  uni- 
verse in  all  its  parts  in  His  control.  The  house  into 
which  these  souls  are  to  be  ushered  is  not  made  with 
hands;  it  is  a  habitation  of  God,  undeliled,  incorrupt- 
ible, and  that  fadeth  not  away,  as  shall  this  earth  and 
these  heavens  over  us,  when  His  time  comes — the  one 
melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  other  be  rolled  together  as 
a  scroll. 

"  In  vain  my  fancy  strives  to  i^aint 
The  moment  after  death, 
The  glories  that  surround  the  saint 
When  yielding  up  his  breath. 

"  One  gentle  sigh  his  fetters  breaks: 
We  scarce  can  say,  '  He's  gone,' 
Before  the  willing  spirit  takes 
Its  mansion  near  the  throne. 

"  This  much,  and  this  is  all  we  know, 
Saints  are  completely  blest, 
Have  done  with  sin  and  care  and  love, 
And  with  their  Savior  rest." 

Yes  !  this  is  all  we  know,  and  all  we  need  to  know. 
Faith  answers  for  all  the  rest,  and  in  faith  we  die,  and 
then  our  faith  shall  vanish  in  the  full  sight  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  paradise  of  God. 

Into  this  paradise  Jesus  now  enters,  and  shortly 
after  tlie  forgiven  penitent,  received  and  saved  in  the 
very  hour  of  his  agony.  But  he  is  not  alone.  Sin- 
gular lie  is  in  the  imperial  grandeur  of  his  nature; 
singular  in  the  godlike  work  he  has  accomplished. 
But  he  is  not  alone  there.  Myriads  are  there;  Adam 
and  Abel,  and  Enoch  and  Seth,  the  patriarchs,  the 
martyr-prophets,  the  saints  of  all  ages,  meet  and  greet 
him  in  his  royal  entrance.     These  are  the  fruits  of  his 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  429 


travail;  for  these  lie  entered  humanity  and  became 
obedient  unto  death.  His  very  presence  is  the  procla- 
mation of  the  iinisbed  gospel,  the  triumph  over  sin 
and  death,  to  that  vast  congregation.  What  joy, 
what  love  enraptures  the  heart,  kindles  in  the  eye, 
breaks  forth  in  praise !  We  seek  not  to  penetrate  the 
veil  that  hides  this  scene  from  our  eyes.  The  Re- 
deemer spends  liis  tirst  Sabbath  in  paradise,  amidst 
the  redeemed.  Let  us  leave  him  there  for  the  present. 
The  time  will  come  when  we  shall  know  their  rapture, 
and  bow  with  them  before  his  throne,  and  feel,  in  all 
its  fullness,  his  living  presence,  thrilling  the  joy  of 
heaven  through  the  redeemed  soul. 

Let  us  turn  to  another  i)oint  of  deepest  interest  to 
every  thoughtful  mind.  The  trial,  the  death,  and 
burial  of  Christ  constitute  the  most  remarkable  event 
in  history.  This  event  does  not  stand  alone  as  an 
isolated  fact  unannounced  and  unconnected  in  the 
past.  The  Scriptures  declare  it  to  be  the  consumma- 
tion and  gathering  together  of  long  trains  of  influ- 
ences and  jtrovidences  working  to  this  end.  It  is  not 
such  that  you  can  say  of  it,  it  has  no  past,  there  is  to 
be  no  future.  It  is  not  like  the  death  of  others,  a  sud- 
den and  transient  scene.  From  this  point  the  history 
of  the  world  dates  back  to  Eden ;  it  dates  forward  to 
the  conflagration.  All  along  the  line  of  Scripture  his- 
tory the  evidences  of  his  coming  crop  out  and  thrust 
themselves  into  view.  But  not  to  speak  of  these  in  gen- 
eral now,  the  scene  just  before  us  was  singularly  detailed 
liundreds  of  years  before  it  occurred.  His  sinlessness 
is  stated  with  great  explicitness — He  is  my  righteous 
servant,  the  i)oly  one.  Ills  conduct  under  arrest,  and 
before  it,  is  declared — He  is  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaugh- 


430  SERMONS    ON    THE 


ter,  and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he 
opened  not  his  mouth.  With  the  same  unresisting 
spirit  he  followed  the  band  sent  to  arrest,  and  was  silent 
save  when  judicially  called  to  testify  of  himself.  He  is 
slain,  not  in  a  tumult,  not  in  a  forcible  attempt  to  assail 
his  rights,  but  after  trial  and  judgment.  He  is  taken 
from  prison  and  judgment,  and  who  shall  declare  his 
generation  ?  He  was  accursed,  reviled,  crucified  as  an 
impostor  and  a  malefactor,  cursed  of  God;  so  it  was 
foretold — we  did  esteem  him  stricken  of  God  and 
afflicted.  But  he  was  innocent,  and  died  for  the  sins 
of  others;  so,  Pilate  declares,  I  find  no  guilt  in  him; 
and  the  high  priest,  unconsciously  fulfilling  prophecy, 
says,  It  is  expedient  that  he  should  die  for  the  sins  of 
the  people.  He  was  scourged  and  thorn  crowned ;  pro- 
phecy foretells  that — By  his  stripes  we  are  healed. 
He  is  wounded  to  death  on  the  cross,  and  his  side  is 
pierced  with  the  spear — he  was  pierced  for  our  trans- 
gressions, he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  says  the 
prophet.  To  add  ignominy  to  suffering,  he  was  not 
only  crucified,  but  with  malefactors,  and  it  was  designed 
he  should  be  buried  with  them  ;  instead  of  this,  the 
rich  Joseph  placed  him  in  his  own  new  tomb,  and  so 
prophecy  had  said  as  one  of  our  best  commentators  has 
it,  "  his  grave  was  appointed  with  the  wicked,  but  he 
was  with  a  rich  man  at  his  death."  (Barnes.)  It  is 
said,  "  not  a  bone  of  him  shall  be  broken  ;"  instead  of 
breaking  his  legs,  the  spear  is  thrust  into  his  side. 
Even  the  incidental  act  of  casting  lots  on  his  vesture 
found  its  fulfillment  in  the  actions  of  the  soldiers. 

ISTow,  without  going  into  this  subject  more  at  length, 
is  it  possible  for  any  man  to  mark  this  trial,  crucifixion, 
and  burial,  and  suppose  that  these  correspondencies 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  431 

witli  trntlis  uttered  hundreds  of  years  before,  are  all 
accidental?  Does  a  liouse  build  itself  and  arrange  its 
apartments  in  fit  order,  and  roof  itself  against  sun  and 
storm  ?  Incredible,  you  say,  -without  a  designing  mind. 
Well,  what  is  the  designing  mind  that  arranged  these 
correspondencies?  Did  Caiaphas  mean  to  fulfill  a 
prophecy,  when  he  declared  it  expedient  that  Christ 
should  die  for  the  sins  of  the  people?  Did  Pilate  de- 
clare him  innocent,  and  yet  condemn  him  to  be  cruci- 
fied, to  meet  a  prediction  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures? 
Did  tlie  Jews  mean  to  fulfill  a  prophecy,  when,  as  far 
as  their  purposes  went,  they  appointed  him  to  die  and 
be  buried  with  criminals?  Did  the  soldiers  mean  to 
fulfill  the  Scriptures,  of  which  they  knew  notliing, 
when,  instead  of  breaking  his  legs,  they  pierced  his 
side?  Did  Joseph  and  jSTicodemus  mean  to  fulfill  pro- 
phecy when  they  buried  him  in  the  tomb  of  the  rich  ? 
Did  the  house  build  itself?  Did  these  correspond- 
encies arise  of  themselves  ?  Why  did  a  prophet,  seven 
hundred  years  before,  describe  the  life  and  death  of 
this  man  with  such  singular  minuteness?  Did  any 
other  being  ever  live  of  whom  all  this  was  true? 
Yes  !  there  was  a  design  in  it  all ;  the  mind  of  God, 
and  the  purpose  of  God,  and  the  almighty  power  of 
God,  flashes  down  through  these  centuries,  and  con- 
centrates around  the  cross.  But  the  disciples  found 
out  these  things  after  his  death,  and  then  applied 
them  as  predictions!  Of  course  they  did.  The  pro- 
phecies existed  long  before,  but  the  events  did  not 
exist.  Jesus  dies,  and  the  events  appear,  just  as  the 
])ro})het  declared  they  would,  and  then  they  recognized 
the  prophecy  and  its  fulfillment.  We,  to-day,  read  the 
prophecies,  and  follow  out  these  scenes  and  recognize 


432  SERMO^T^S   ON    THE 

the  one  in  the  other,  and  would  recognize  them  if  not 
a  single  one  of  the  apostles  had  written  of  it.  It 
would  be  just  as  unreasonable  to  deny  the  fultilhnent 
of  prophecy,  in  this  case,  as  it  would  be  to  deny 
that  the  sun  was  created  to  shine  and  therefore  it 
does  shine ;  to  deny  that  when  Eoebler  wrote  out 
his  plan,  and  afterward  executed  it,  in  building 
the  enormous  suspension  bridge  at  Cincinnati,  he 
never  meant  to  do  it.  Here  is  the  plan,  all 
written  out  centuries  before,  and  here  is  the  con- 
summation of  it  in  the  cross  of  Jesus.  And  so  Peter, 
just  after  the  event  occurred,  could  say  with  a  di- 
vine assurance,  "  Ilim  being  delivered  by  the  de- 
terminate counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have 
taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  cruciiied  and  slain." 
So  Paul  shortly  after  could  say  of  the  Jews,  "  and 
when  they  had  fulfilled  all  that  was  written  of  him, 
they  took  him  down  from  the  tree  and  laid  him  in  a 
sepulcher."  Answer  this,  then  ;  here  is  the  trial  and 
death  of  Jesus  ;  and  here  the  whole  scene  is  described 
in  the  sacred  Scriptures  centuries  before.  If  you  ad- 
mit that  the  prophet  foresaw  or  by  a  divine  inspira- 
tion wrote  of  this,  then  the  Scriptures  are  inspired, 
then  the  death  of  Jesus  is  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  even  for 
yours.  Den}'  this,  and  consent  to  be  counted  a  fool, 
both  unreasonable  and  wicked.  Oh!  why  will  men 
twist  and  turn  and  refine  on  words  and  raiarshal  their 
hypercriticism  to  put  God  in  Christ  out  of  the  world ; 
to  shutter  their  houses  against  the  blessed  sun  ;  to 
fling  away  anchor  and  needle  and  compass  and  leave 
their  souls  to  drift  on  the  stormy  sea  of  life?  Why 
take  they  so  much  pains  to  make  their  damuiition 
sure?     AVhat  has  unaided  reason  or  the  force  of  will 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  433 

done  in  this  world  to  lift  the  heart  out  of  the  mire  of 
sin,  to  give  peace  to  the  conscience,  to  fortify  the  heart 
against  the  incursions  of  evil  and  fear,  and  cast  a  sin- 
gle ray  on  the  unknown  hereafter,  to  save  men  from 
themselves  and  their  deserved  punishment  and  secure 
an  entrance  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  God? 
Here  by  the  cross  is  light,  strength,  forgiveness,  eter- 
nal life.  There  is  a  Paradise  of  God.  Jesus  entered 
it  in  triumph,  that  you  might  enter  it.  To  you  he 
brings  to-day  the  word  of  promise,  the  word  of  hope. 
Believe,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 
37 


434  SERMONS   ON    THE 


XXV. 


THE    EESURKECTION. 


'■'■He  is  not  here;  Be  is  risen,  as  he  said.  Come,  see  the 
place  where  the  Lord  lay." — Matthew  xxviii  :  6. 

We  enter  now  npon  a  scene  of  gladness.  A  holy 
joy  pervades  the  believing  heart  as  it  views  this  won- 
derful event.  We  pass  at  once  from  the  most  awful 
to  the  most  sublime  and  exhilarating  scene  recorded 
in  the  life  of  Jesus.  Out  of  darkness  the  most  intense, 
we  emerge  into  the  brightness  of  an  accomplished 
salvation.  From  the  cross,  the  agony,  the  blood,  the 
death,  the  darkness  of  the  crucifixion,  the  grave,  we 
are  transported  into  the  new  life  of  the  resurrection. 
In  every  instance  but  one,  where  the  word  Pascha  oc- 
curs in  the  Scriptures,  our  translators  have  iitly  ren- 
dered it  Passover.  But  in  one  instance,  Acts  xii  :  4, 
they  have  put  for  it  the  word  "  Easter."  Kow  Easter, 
or  Eostre,  was  said  to  be  the  name  of  one  of  our  old 
Anglo-Saxon  heathen  deities,  whose  festival  was  cele- 
brated in  April.  The  resurrection  occurred  on  ihe 
first  Sabbath  after  the  full  moon  in  April,  as  the  pas- 
chal Sabbath  among  the  Jews  occurred  the  day  before. 
And  thus  this  Christian  Sabbath  w^as  baptized  with  a 
heathen  name,  after  it  became  a  festival  among  the 
Christians.  But  for  us  every  Christian  Sabbath, 
through  the  year,  commemorates  the  Pesurrection. 
This  day  Jesus  rose,  while  on  the  old  Sabbath  his  body 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  435 

lav  at  rest  in  the  tomb.  From  this  day  the  weekly 
Sabbath  passed  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of 
the  week ;  and  this  change  originating  at  that  time 
and  perpetuated  ever  since,  is  the  abiding  memorial 
and  commemoration  of  his  resurrection. 

We  dwelt  last  upon  the  burial  of  the  body  of  Jesus, 
and  we  saw  his  soul  enter  Paradise,  leading  in  triumph 
the  penitent  m'alefactor.  His  entrance  therfe  must 
have  stirred  the  heart  of  every  redeemed  one  with  un- 
utterable wonder  and  delight.  He  mingles  Avith  the 
patriarchs  and  prophets  and  believers  of  every  age, 
and  proclaimed  to  them  the  full  accomplishment  of  his 
glorious  work.  In  him  they  see  their  mighty  Re- 
deemer. In  him  they  see  the  brightness  of  the  Fa- 
ther's glory.  In  him  they  welcome  the  incarnate  Son 
of  God.  What  words  he  then  uttered,  what  high 
mysteries  of  his  kingdom  he  then  unfolded,  to  these 
redeemed  ones,  the  mind  of  mortals  conceives  not. 
But  it  must  have  been  a  scene  most  sublime,  when 
from  the  cross  of  his  accomplished  agony  he  moved 
amid  those  armies  of  the  faithful,  and  saw  there,  in 
part,  the  fruit  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  was  satis- 
fied. For  the  first  time  they  serve  him  after  his  work 
is  done ;  for  the  first  time  they  see  him  as  the  incar- 
nate Son,  not  indeed  as  clothed  with  his  resurrection 
body,  but  with  his  human  soul,  like  them  a  brother, 
unlike  them  the  Son  of  God.  And  as  from  far  and 
near  men  gather  joyously  to  witness  the  advent  of  an 
earthly  chieftain,  or  a  great  ruler,  who  has  led  their 
cause,  and,  tlirough  obstacles  vast  and  manifold,  has 
guided  that  cause  to  victory.  As  they  hail  his  coming 
with  shouts  of  joy,  and,  wild  with  excitement,  they  press 


436  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

to  see  his  face  and  hear  his  voice  and  may  be  to  touch 
even  the  hem  of  his  garment,  so  these  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect,  still  human  in  their  nature,  meet 
with  unutterable  joy  the  Captain  of  their  salvation, 
look  upon  the  inlinite  Son  who  in  their  nature  has 
fought  the  great  fight  for  humanity,  and  now  presents 
himself  exalted  above  all  principalities  and  powers, 
their  everliving  Redeemer. 

And  now  the  third  night  is  past  and  the  third  day 
is  blushing  in  its  dawn,  since  the  march  of  his  death- 
agony  began.  His  mighty  victory  over  sin  he  has 
manifested  first  to  these  redeemed  spirits,  and  held  his 
jubilee  of  praise  amidst  the  unnumbered  throng  who 
shout,  "Worthy  is  the  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us  ! 
IvTow,  then,  he  must  manifest  to  his  church  on  earth 
that  his  body  can  be  no  longer  holden  by  death ;  that 
the  malice  and  power  of  men  and  Satan  have  reached 
their  limit;  that  though,  to  consummate  the  sacrifice '>■ 
for  sin,  they  were  permitted  to  hang  him  upon  the 
cross,  yet,  that  finished,  their  work  was  done.  Death, 
which  was  for  a  little  time  a  mighty  agent,  must  now 
be  des})oiled  of  his  power,  and  the  victor  over  sin 
must  now  show  himself  the  victor  over  death  ;  nature 
itself  must  now  sit  powerless,  while  a  greater  than 
nature,  even  its  Lord,  comes  down  into  it  and 
snatches  from  its  grasp  the  pierced  and  precious 
body  it  seemed  to  hold  with  an  eternal  force.  Men 
must  see,  and  know,  and  feel,  that  a  new,  a  vast, 
a  wonderful  event  in  human  history  has  occurred ; 
that  henceforth  sin  has  lost  its  power  of  destroying  in 
hell  the  souls  of  his  people,  and  death  has  been  strip- 
ped of  its  power  to  hold  their  bodies  in  the  grave. 
The  two  grand  terrors  of  the  human  soul ;  the  two 


LIFE    OF    CHEIST.  437 

forces  most  inimical  to  our  peace  and  joy — sin  and 
death — must  both  be  stripped  forever  of  their  prestige 
of  victory,  and  slink  away,  bafHed  and  discrowned,  to 
Satan  and  those  who  prefer  his  reign  to  that  of  our 
immortal  Redeemer.  When  he  cried,  "  It  is  finished," 
on  the  cross,  he  had  conquered  sin;  but  men  thought 
sin  had  conquered  him  ;  when  they  laid  his  body  in 
the  tomb,  even  his  disciples  thought  death  had  con- 
quered.' But  now  this  judgment  is  to  be  forever  re- 
versed;  now  it  shall  be  manifest  to  all  the  world,  the 
powers  of  darkness  shall  be  openly  despoiled  ;  cap- 
tivity' shall  be  led  captive,  when,  a  conqueror,  he  puts 
death  forever  under  his  feet,  and  shows  himself  vic- 
torious as  the  Savior  of  sinners.  They  had  mock- 
ingly said,  "  He  saveth  others,  himself  he  can  not 
save."  Damnable  accusation  ;  hell-born  thought ;  blas- 
phemous assumption.  They  have  done  their  will ; 
they  have  had  their  hour  of  triumph  ;  they  liave 
shouted  their  aha,  aha  !  the}'  have  poured  the  full  caul- 
dron of  burning  wrath  and  ignominy  upon  him;  the}'^ 
have  had  their  jubilee  in  the  Sanhedrim  ;  "  the  King 
of  the  Jews"  is  dead.  Where  is  your  Son  of  God 
now  ?  Where  is  your  Messiah  now  ?  Where  is  the 
Nazarene  now?  Oh  !  thus  the  wicked  often  dream — 
that  God  is  dead  ;  that  his  wrath  is  played  out ;  that 
hell  is  a  myth  ;  that  Satan  is  a  chimera.  But  God  is 
not  dead  ;  hell  is  not  a  myth  ;  the  plans  of  the  infinite 
move  slowly  but  surely,  till  the  time  comes  for  action. 
Then,  in  an  instant,  out  flashes  the  divine  arm,  and 
the  bolt  falls.  Jesus  dies;  Jesus  is  buried;  his  own 
voice  has  foretold  it  all  ;  now  the  time  has  come  ;  the 
third  day  is  here.  From  that  Paradise  of  the  departed 
saints,  he  passes  to  the  tomb ;  he  enters  the  dead,  but 


438  SERMONS   ON    THE 

uncorrupt,  body  ;  vital  heat  flashes  through  it ;  its 
transformation  into  a  spiritual  body  has  begun  ;  he 
rises,  the  najtkin  is  taken  off,  folded,  and  laid  aside, 
the  linen  shroud  is  put  off  and  laid  in  another  place. 
There  is  no  haste,  no  confusion,  no  disorder,  as  if  hu- 
man hands,  in  their  tremor  and  haste,  had  visited  the 
house  of  death.  And  Jesus  has  risen  !  Death  is  dis- 
crowned ;  sin  atoned. 

But  he  is  not  alone.  Around  tlie  throne  •of  God 
ever  stand  and  worship  millions  of  bright,  unfallen 
angels,  ministers  of  his  high  purposes  to  men.  They, 
too,  have  their  interest,  and  shall  have  their  part,  in 
this  great  redemption  ;  they,  too,  have  watched  the 
progress  of  this  great/lesign,from  the  hour  when  Adam 
fell.  And  now,  as  the  sublime  plan  hastens  to  its  ac- 
complishment, their  interest  deepens,  and  they  come 
on  ministries  of  love  to  our  fallen  world.  Jesus  is  to 
them  the  grand  event  of  eternity.  They  open  to 
^Mary  her  coming  motherhood  of  his  humanity.  They 
sing  his  birth-day  song,  jubilant  with  praise  and  love 
to  God  and  man,  on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem.  They 
witness  his  baptism,  when,  as  Messiah,  his  mission 
is  open  to  the  world.  They  minister  to  him  in  great 
joy,  when  his  temptation  in  the  wilderness  is  ac- 
complished. They  comfort  and  support  him  in 
his  fearful  agony  in  the  garden.  And  now,  swift- 
winged,  with  unutterable  delight,  they  attend  him  to 
the  tomb.  All  is  still,  save  as  the  hum  of  preparation 
for  the  day  amidst  the  vast  multitudes  of  the  city  sends 
its  softened  sounds  into  the  garden.  All  is  silent, 
save  as  the  watchmen  speak  to  each  other  of  their 
speedy  release.  Suddenly,  a  tremor  is  felt  in  the  solid 
earth,  startling  the  anxious  watchers  ;  the  form  of  an 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  439 


angel  outflashes  before  their  eyes;  he  rolls  back,  as 
if  it  were  a  toy,  the  mighty  stoue  from  the  door  of 
the  sepulehcr,  and  sits  upon  it ;  the  watchers,  startled 
before,  attViglited  now,  shrink  in  terror  away,  and 
Jesus  comes  forth  ;  He  has  arisen  ! 

"  Love's  redeeming  work  is'done, 
Fought  the  fight,  the  battle  won  ; 
So,  our  sun's  eclipse  is  o'er  ; 
So,  he  sets  in  blood  no  more. 

Vain  the  stone,  the  watch,  the  seal ; 
Christ  hath  burst  the  gates  of  hell ; 
Death  in  vain  forbids  his  rise ; 
Christ  hath  opened  Paradise. 

Lives  again  our  glorious  king, 
'  Where,  O  death,  is  now  thy  sting  ?'    . 

Once  he  died  our  souls  to  save, 
'  Where's  thy  victory,  boasting  grave?'  " 

But  what  become  of  the  watch  set  to  guard  the 
tomb  ?  Terrilied,  they  dare  not  appear  there.  They 
scatter  around,  until  the  safe  time  to  return  to  their 
barracks.  Some  of  them  steal  into  the  city,  and  pri- 
vately inform  the  chief  priests  of  this  great  event. 
Then  there  is  a  mighty  stir  and  commotion.  The 
grand  council  is  assembled  ;  they  debate  and  discuss 
what  now  shall  be  done  to  keep  the  knowledge  of  this 
event  from  the  people?  In  some  way,  it  must  be  de- 
nied ;  in  some  way  the  watcli  must  be  silenced.  Their 
credit  is  at  stake  ;  if  this  is  true,  they  are  most  willful 
murderers.  They  will  not  think  of  accepting  the  fact, 
and  confessing  Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah.  Too  long 
they  have  resisted  and  trampled  ii{ion  the  clearest  tes- 
timony. The  soul  may  so  persistently  harden  itself 
as  to  be   insensible  to  the  most  powerful  light  and 


440  SEEMONS   ON"   THE 

truth.  Some  means  must  be  taken  to  circulate  a 
counter-story.  They  resort  to  bribery.  Money  is  an 
all-potent  agent  in  influencing  men  of  no  deep  re- 
ligious principle.  Men  risk  their  lives  and  ruin  their 
souls  to  obtain  it.  Mere  politicians,  statesmen,  judges, 
men  of  all  varieties  and  conditions  of  life,  high  and 
low,  without  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  have 
their  price.  This  has  come  to  be  the  vice  of  our 
legislation,  the  vice  of  multitudes  in  our  country.  Ra- 
pacity and  the  lust  of  gold  was  the  sordid  vice  of  the 
mass  of  Roman  procurators,  generals,  governors.  The 
Roman  soldier  was  no  better  than  his  master,  when 
the  price  was  large  enough  to  pay  for  the  risk.  So 
the  priests  bid  high  ;  they  gave  large  money  to  the 
watch.  What  for?  To  tell  the  world  two  falsehoods  ; 
one  that  they  slept,  a  crime,  in  a  Roman  soldier  on 
guard,  worthy  of  death  ;  the  other,  Avhile  the}'  slept, 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  stole  his  body.  If  they  slept 
how  could  they  know  that  ?  A  lie  on  its  face.  But 
suppose  the  governor  hears  that  we  slept  on  our  post? 
We  must  die.  ~Eo !  We  will  attend  to  that  matter. 
You  are  our  guard,  for  the  time  doing  our  work,  not 
the  proper  work  of  a  Roman  soldier.  If  we  are  satis- 
fied with  your  conduct,  he  will  be  satisfied.  Fear  not. 
So,  taking  the  money,  they  propagate  the  self-contrary 
falsehood,  and  the  council,  already  steeped  in  innocent 
blood,  maintain  the  conscious  lie.  To  Avhat  ignominy, 
to  what  falsehood,  will  not  men  descend,  when  once 
they  have  thrown  truth  away  and  with  it  justice? 
Thus  darkly  ended  in  deliberate  falsehood  the  crime 
of  these  false  and  cruel  men  ;  false  to  God  and  false 
to  man,  as  they,  rejected  for  the  nation  her  own  Mes- 
siah and  prepared  the  way  for  the  hour  of  vengeance. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  441 

Henceforth,  despite  their  lying  artifice,  above  their 
malicious  and  impotent  rage,  the  shout  "  He  is  risen  !" 
"He  is  risen!"  rises  and  swells  louder  and  loader, 
until  it  echoes  from  every  mountain-top  and  across 
every  sea  and  through  every  valley  of  all  the  earth  ; 
henceforth,  these  mitered  and  vestured  murderers  shall 
appear  only  for  a  moment  as  baflled  persecutors  and 
then  vanish  away  amid  the  blood  and  smoke  and  crash 
of  temple,  pahices,  Avails,  peoples  mingled  in  one  com- 
mon ruin. 

'^  But  now  we  turn  to  another  scene.  "Where  now, 
amid  all  these  fearful  events,  are  the  chosen  disciples? 
Scattered  by  the  first  assault  of  his  enemies,  they 
await  in  trembling  anxiety  the  issue  of  his  trial.  But 
when  he  is  crucified,  and  all  is  over,  they  hide  them- 
selves away  from  the  now  triumphant  Sanhedrim. 
They  fear  lest  that  wild,  excited  nation,  lifting  its 
angry  surges  against  the  heavens,  shall  dash  down  on 
them.  The  darkness  that  settled  down  upon  the  tomb 
where  Jesus  lay  was  the  symbol  of  a  denser  darkness 
around  their  souls.  They  could  not  forget;  they 
could  not  hope.  Bewildered,  stunned  by  the  terrible 
stroke,  they  cower  in  an  agony  of  silence  away  from 
all  the  festivities  of  the  paschal  Sabbath.  Again  and 
again  had  Christ  forew^arned  them  tiuit  he  must  die. 
Still  the  vision  of  an  earthly  kingdom  in  all  its  tri- 
umphant splendor  held  possession  of  their  souls.  To 
them  it  seems  impossible  that  such  amazing  super- 
natural power,  such  divine  authority,  such  heavenly 
light  and  purity  and  love,  in  the  person  of  their  Lord, 
must  hang  upon  the  cross  and  meet  a  felon's  doom. 
Again  and  again  he  had  assured  them  he  should  rise 
from  the  grave.     They  comprehended  not  his  words; 


442  SERMONS   OX   THE 

they  believe  not  in,  tliey  hope  not  for  his  resurrection. 
They  care  not  but  to  hide  their  dishonored  selves, 
their  crushed  hopes,  away  from  the  eyes  of  men. 
From  the  heights  of  heaven  they  fall  into  the  depths 
of  despair.  Love,  faith,  hope,  are  all,  like  some 
splendid  jewel,  dashed  and  broken  into  fragments  by 
one  cruel  stroke.  ]^o  man  can  estimate  the  feelings 
or  imagine  the  horrible  darkness  of  those  hours. 

And  now  the  early  dawn  spreads  its  gray  streaks  on 
the  still  darkened  sky.     Plunged  in  their  grief,  they 
heed  it  not ;  they  recall  not  his  glorious  promise  of 
the  resurrection.     Then  it  is,  when  strong  and  stal- 
wart manhood,  the  lofty  spirit  that  had  said,  "  I  will 
never  deny  thee,"  sits  nourishing  its   hopeless  grief, 
that  w^oman  appears  in  all  her  characteristic  loveliness 
and  watchfulness  as  an  ano;el  minister.     She  forsrets 
not  the  duty  of  the  hour.     She  can  not  minigter  to 
her  living  Lord,  but  minister  she  will  to  the  dead  body 
of  him   she  loved.     Bearing  her  spicery,  she  moves 
on  to  her  loving  task.     She  knows  not  of,  or  com- 
prehends not,  the  resurrection.     But  as  she  approaches 
the  garden  where  last  she  watched  when  his  body  was 
laid  in  the  tomb,  she  bethinks  herself  of  that  great 
stone  which  closed  the   entrance  and  of   her  feeble 
arms,  and  asks  herself  almost  in  despair,  "  Who  shall 
roll  it  away?"     Ah!     Another  power  mightier  than 
soldiers  or  priests  has  anticipated  her  wish.     As  Mary 
Magdalene,  Mary  the  mother  of  James,  Joanna,  Sa- 
lome, and   others,  this  precious   company  of  Christ's 
most  loving  disciples,  wind  through  the   shrubbery, 
they  suddenly  stand  before  the  sepulcher.     It  is  open ; 
the  stone  is  rolled  away ;  the  guard  is  tied  ;  it  is  silent. 
They  enter  the  tomb  ;  it  is  tenantless.     Mary  Magda- 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  443 

lene,  full  of  bat  one  tboiiglit,  the  body  of  ber  Lord  is 
gone,  instantly  turns,  and  with  burried  steps  runs  to 
tell  John  and  Peter.  But  no  sooner  is  she  gone  than 
the  angels  appear  to  the  amazed  women  and  tell  them 
Jesus  is  risen.  I  stay  not  now  to  follow  out  the  order 
of  these  stupendous  events ;  bow  Peter  and  John  an- 
swer the  summons  of  Mary,  "  They  have  taken  away 
our  Lord;"  bow  they  run  to  the  sepulcber ;  bow  Mary 
returns  sadly;  bow  Jesus  meets  ber  and  meets  tbe 
other  women,  rewarding  their  fervent  zeal  and  undy- 
ing love  by  the  first  manifestations  of  himself.  On 
these  we  will  dwell  w4ien  we  come  to  the  direct  argu- 
ment for  the  resurrection.  But  now  the  great  fact  is 
out.  The  air  is  full  of  rumors.  There  is  a  new  light 
abroad.  Slowly  the  sun  ascends  and  fills  the  valleys 
with  bis  celestial  light.  Hope,  wonder,  amazement, 
alternate  with  doubt  and  fear  in  many  hearts.  They 
begin  to  recall  bis  words,  "  After  three  days  I  will 
rise."  But  the  change,  the  miracle,  is  so  stupendous, 
so  grand !  Then  they  think  bow  mighty,  bow  grand, 
bow  prophetic,  how  truthful,  be  is.  Some,  like  John, 
ever  open  to  bis  words,  believe  the  women ;  and  the 
darkness  is  all  gone,  the  joy  is  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory.  Some  wait  in  hope  and  doubt,  but  in  none 
of  them  is  there  the  despairing  sorrow  of  yesterday; 
there  is  a  gradual  awakening  to  the  truth,  a  half- 
bewildering  feeling  that  the  daylight  is  abroad,  and  a 
half  consciousness  that  still  they  dream.  And  so  the 
day  wears  on — a  day  of  agitation,  fear,  and  hope, 
hope  predominating  till  the  sun  descends. 

Where  now  is  Jesus?  Triumphant  over  death,  the 
mortal  has  begun  to  put  on  the  immortal.  Ilis  [)reacb- 
ini^;.  bis  teaching,  is  now  ended  on  earth.     He  is   to 


444  SERMONS    ON    THE 

remain  for  the  conHrmatiou  of  the  faith  in  him  as 
risen,  and  then  he  will  ascend.  But  there  is  one  of 
his  disciples,  the  once  proud,  the  fallen,  the  sad  Peter, 
whose  case  he  compassionates,  and  to  him,  after  the 
women,  he  appears  wnth  kindly  assurances  of  forgive- 
ness, lifting  him  up  into  the  light  and  strengthening 
him  for  his  w^ork  on  earth,  l^ext  we  find  him  outside 
of  the  city  in  conversation  with  two  of  his  disciples. 
Luke,  in  beautiful  episode,  relates  the  fact.  One  of 
these  men  is  Cleophas  and  the  other  may  have  been  Luke 
himself.  They  are  traveling  slowly  and  sadly  to  Em- 
maus,  a  village  some  seven  miles  from  Jerusalem.  The 
theme  which  fills  all  minds  fill  theirs.  The  trial,  the 
death,  the  burial,  the  reported  resurrection  of  Christ 
are  the  subjects  of  their  subdued  conversation.  Jesus 
joins  them  as  a  stranger,  inquires  the  reason  of  their 
sadness.  They  express  astonishment  that  he  should 
be  ignorant  of  the  wonderful  events  that  had  trans- 
pired at  Jerusalem,  and,  describing  them,  mention  his 
reported  resurrection.  Then  with  loving  condescen- 
sion he  opens  to  them  the  Scriptures  respecting  the 
Messiah.  From  point  to  point,  from  the  writings  of 
Moses  down  to  those  of  Malachi,  he  brings  out  the 
character,  the  life,  the  death,  the  rising  and  ascension 
of  the  Messiah.  They  listen  as  to  an  angel  prophet. 
Their  hearts  glow  with  holy  rapture  at  his  visions  of 
the  Messiah,  and  soon  they  reach  the  village.  But 
they  will  not  part  from  him.  He  must  abide  with 
them  and  share  their  meal.  Then  as  they  are  pre- 
pared to  eat,  Jesus  takes  the  bread  and  blesses  it. 
Then  their  eyes,  their  ears  are  open.  Who  like  him 
can  thus  bless?  Who  like  him  can  thus  speak  ?  That 
voice,  in  its  divine,  loving,  familiar  tones,  enters  their 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  445 

hearts.  At  once  Jesus  is  before  tbein,  their  risen  Sa- 
vior, their  glorious  Lord.  Then  he  vanishes  from 
sight.  Amazed,  overjoyed,  tliey  can  eat  no  more ; 
with  rapid  steps,  rehearsing  his  wondrous  words,  they 
return  to  Jerusalem.  They  seek  the  disciples,  and  as 
they  enter,  the  words,  "  He  is  risen,  he  has  appeared 
to  Simon,"  anticipate  their  own  joyful  story.  Then 
as  this  little  company  praise  God,  Jesus  enters  and 
stands  before  them.  Yes,  he  is  risen.  Death,  the 
grave,  the  malice  and  power  of  men  can  not  hold  him. 
The  final  demonstration  of  his  Messiahship  is  com- 
plete. Henceforth  the  Kedemption  of  Jesus,  his  in- 
carnation, his  life,  his  redeeming  death,  his  resurrec- 
tion, enter  as  living  truths,  the  most  vital  and  grand- 
est truths,  into  human  history.  Eoman  falsehood, 
Jewish  malice,  Grecian  skepticism,  cau  never  crush 
them  out  of  human  thought,  or  palsy  their  ennobling 
power  over  human  hearts.  From  soul  to  soul  these 
eternal  realities  pass  into  possession  ;  men  feed  upon 
them  and  grow  pure  and  strong.  The  sphere  of  faith 
enlarges  from  generation  to  generation,  and  as  it  en- 
larges, new  power,  new  joy,  new  hope  exalts  and 
strengthens  man.  To  the  poor  the  gos[»el  of  this  res- 
urrection is  preached  and  they  grow  rich,  and  to  the 
weak  it  is  divine  strength ;  yea,  to  all  it  is  salvation. 

Some  facts  there  are  in  the  past,  that  impress  them- 
selves either  on  history  or  the  character  of  nations,  so 
deeply  that  it  never  wears  out.  Such  a  fact  is  the 
deluge,  such  a  fact  is  the  dispersion,  the  exodus  of 
Israel  from  Egypt,  and  the  captivity.  But  here  is  a 
fact  affecting  at  first  but  a  single  actor  and  a  few 
friends,  obscure  and  nameless ;  yet  this  fact  is  grander 
than  the  deluges,  and  dispersions,  and  captivities.     It 


446  SERMONS    ON    THE 

lifts  itself  at  once  into  the  light;  it  incorporates  itself 
with  the  pnrest  thought  of  the  world  ;  it  put  the  crown 
upon  Christ  as  the  Savior  of  men  and  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God.  l^either  science  and  civilization,  nor 
degeneracy  and  revolution ;  neither  war  nor  peace,  nor 
change  of  government,  nor  seas  nor  continents,  sepa- 
rate this  wonderful  event  from  the  conscious  thought 
and  feelings  of  mankind.  The  Sabbath,  in  its  change 
from  the  last  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  word  of 
God  in  which  it  is  embalmed,  ever  proclaim  it.  It  is 
the  finishing  demonstration  of  the  chief  event  of  his- 
tory, the  incarnation  and  death  of  Jesus,  as  the  Son 
of  God,  for  our  redemption.  It  is  the  brightest  mir- 
acle of  time,  since  it  is  Christ  himself  in  his  completed 
Messiahship.  But  while  in  connection  with  the  other 
great  events  of  Christ's  life,  it  is  confirmatory  of  faith 
in  him  as  the  Redeemer  of  souls  from  death.  It  has  in 
itself  a  special  and  peculiar  application  to  the  hearts 
of  men  in  their  hours  of  deepest  thoughtfulness  and 
earthly  sorrow.  The  event  of  death  gathers  about  it 
the  most  intense  interest.  That  fact  we  and  our 
friends  must  meet.  Men  shrink  back  from  it  in  terror. 
The  grave  is  dark ;  it  leads  the  w^ay  to  corruption  and 
oblivion.  No  voice  from  nature  speaks  in  answer  to 
our  agonized  inquiry.  Where  are  the  dead  ?  They  are 
gone,  but  where?  The  soul,  is  that  dead  too?  If  it 
lives,  where  is  it  ?  What  lies  in  the  future  ?  These 
thoughts,  these  questions  man  has  and  always  must 
have,  and  they  ever  will  stir  his  soul  to  its  depths.  It 
is  here  the  resurrection  stands  out  invested  with  a 
world-wide,  a  perennial  interest.  The  resurrection 
for  a  few  months  or  years  is  an  event  of  power  super- 
natural, superhuman.     But  yet  it  would  not  solve  the 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  447 


mystery  or  shed  light  on  the  destiny  of  man,  or  cast  a 
ray  on  the  darkness  of  the  tomb.  But  the  resurrec- 
tion, that  contained  in  itself  a  pledge  of  the  final  res- 
urrection of  all  men  who  believed;  a  resurrection  that 
is  to  be  followed  by  no  death,  that  opens  to  us  the 
union  of  the  soul  and  body  and  the  change  of  the  body 
to  fit  it  for  a  new  state  of  being;  a  resurrection  that 
carries  with  it  the  knowledge  of  immortality  and  divine 
foi"giveness  to  believing  man.  Oh,  this  is  infinitely 
wonderful,  rich  and  glorious  Ijeyond  expression.  This 
resurrection  is  light ;  is  life.  This  great  fact,  once  pre- 
sented to  the  minds  of  men,  grows  stronger  forever. 
The  words  of  Jesus,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life,  whosoever  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die,"  can 
never  grow  obsolete  or  lose  that  almost  tearful  interest 
for  dying  men.  For  they  not  merely  express  a  fact  in 
history,  they  express  a  fact  of  living  interest  to  men 
in  all  time.  As  the  martyrs  went  to  bloody  or  fiery 
deaths,  confident  that  Jesus  watched  their  dust  and  in 
liis  resurrection  gave  the  pledge  of  their  immortality, 
so,  even  now,  we  commit  dust  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes, 
in  the  same  hope  of  a  glorious  future.  To-day,  in 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  the  unbelievers  have  made  to 
discredit  this  crown  of  the  Savior's  history,  the  Resur- 
rection holds  the  souls  of  millions  in  quiet ;  to-d.ny  the 
words  of  Jesus,  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  are 
as  sweet,  as  comforting,  as  full  of  hope,  as  when  first 
he  uttered  them  to  the  sorrowing.  And,  0,methinks 
there  dwells  not  on  the  earth  a  thoughtful,  a  serious 
mind  who  would  not  love  to  have  them  uttered  over  his 
dust  when  his  friends  shall  commit  this  mortal  body 
to  the  dark  grave. 

Yes  !  he  is  risen  ;  the  mortal  [)ut  on  immortality. 


448  SERMONS   ON    THE 

tlie  corruptible  put  on  incorruptiou  ;  and,  as  he  as- 
cended, he  opened  the  gates  of  glorj,  the  treasures  of 
eternal  life  for  his  humble  followers.  His  resurrection 
completes  the  character  of  a  perfect  Redeemer,  and 
makes  him  the  all-finished  Captain  of  our  salvation, 
and  the  living  pledge  of  God  himself,  that,  no  matter 
where  our  dust  shall  lie,  in  what  ocean-caverns  it  shall 
be  hidden,  however  scattered  as  the  dust  of  earth,  into 
whatever  other  organisms  it  shall  have  passed,  the 
soul  shall  one  day  seek  out  its  kindred  particles,  and, 
changed  and  spiritualized,  the  identical  man,  in  the 
freshness  of  immortal  life,  shall  rise  to  be  forever  with 
the  Lord.  Wherefore,  dearly  beloved,  hope  on,  pray 
on,  labor  on,  forasmuch  as  your  work  shall  not  be  in 
vain  in  the  Lord.  The  believing  fathers,  mothers, 
children,  friends,  whose  bodies  sleep  in  the  earth,  rest 
under  the  watchful  eye  of  Jesus,  and,  as  he  flashed 
down  from  Paradise  and  put  on  again  the  form  that 
lay  cold  and  lifeless  in  yonder  tomb,  so,  out  of  Para- 
dise, at  the  sound  of  the  last  trump,  these  and  yourself 
shall  rise  incorruptible  and  immortal.  Only  believe, 
and  this  great  resurrection  will  be  to  you  the  assur 
ance  of  3^our  own. 


LIFE    OF    CHIUST.  449 


XXVI. 

THE    RESURRECTION — THE  DIRECT  PROOF  FROM  THE  NARRA- 
TIVES. 

"  Tins  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  loe  all  are 
ivitnesses." — Acts  ii :  32. 

The  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  is  an  liistorical 
fact,  to  be  proved  at  first,  like  any  other  historical 
fact — like  the  death  of  Caesar,  or  the  conquests  of 
Alexander.  It  has  also  its  spiritual  aspects  and  con- 
iirniations,  which,  to  the  Christian,  are  full  of  power. 
But  the  primary  proof  rests  on  historical  evidence. 
Peter,  in  speakiug  to  the  Jews,  within  a  few  weeks 
after  the  event  occurred,  appealed  to  living  testimony 
on  this  subject.  This  testimony  is  recorded  for  us  in 
the  written  life  of  Christ.  We  must  first  judge  of  the 
fact  according  to  this  testimony.  We  need  not  here 
suppose  their  inspiration,  but  simply  regard  them  as 
unimpeached  and  unimpeachable  witnesses  of  what 
their  eyes  saw  and  their  ears  heard,  and  their  direct  com- 
munication with  him  fully  a>^sured  them  of.  How  their 
subsequent  life  evinced  their  faith,  Ave  may  dwell  upon 
hereafter.  We  shall  dwell  to-night  upon  the  direct 
testimony  they  bear  to  the  fact  that  Christ  rose  from 
the  dead.  Preliminary  to  this  discussion,  I  shall  say 
something  respecting  the  fact  that  Christ  was  actually 
dead.  In  proof  of  this  we  have  the  following  chain  of 
38 


450  SERMONS    ON    THE 

evidence  :   1st,  Previous  to  the  crucifixion,  Jesus  had 
spent  the  night  partly  in   conversation  with   his  dis- 
ciples, in  anticipation  of  death,  partly  in  the  fearful 
agony  of  the  garden,  then  in  arrest  and  the  preliminary 
examination  at  the  house  of  Annas,     The  trial  before 
the  Sanhedrim  commenced  early  in  the  morning  ;  he 
was  then  tried  before  Pilate,    then  before  Herod ;  then 
before  Pilate,  where  he  was  scourged  and  condemned. 
After  all  this  exhausting  process,  without  food,  with- 
out support  of  au}^  kind,  the  cross  was  laid  upon  him, 
which,  through  his  great  weakness,  he  was  unable  to 
bear,  without  help,  all  the  way  to  Calvary.     2d,  He 
was  then  crucified  before  the  third  division  of  time,  or 
near  the  commencement  of  the  sixth  hour,  or  twelve 
o'clock.     He  hung  on  the  cross,  with  the  malefactors, 
until  near  sun-down,  or  more  than  six  hours.     3d,  At 
about  the  ninth  hour,  or  shortly  after,  it  is  expressly 
said,  he  gave   up  the  ghost,  or  died.     4th,  After   a 
time,  the  soldiers  were  commanded  to  finish  the  exe- 
cution, so  that  they  mihgt  remove  the  bodies  from  the 
cross.     In  doing  this,  they  broke  the  legs  of  the  others, 
but  on  coming  to  the  body  of  Christ,  found  that  he 
was  already  dead.     Then,  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure,  one  of  them  thrust  a  spear  into  his  side,  and  out  of 
the  terrible  wound  thus  inflicted  there  flowed  blood 
and  water.    5th,  The  fact  was  then  officially  announced 
by  the  centurion  to  Pilate,  that  he  was  dead,  and  then, 
and  not  till  then,  his  body  was  taken  down,  and  laid 
in  the  sepulcher.     6th,  It  remained  there,  in  a  closed 
and  sealed  tomb,  under  a  guard,  until  the  morning  of 
the  third  day.     7th,  He  then  came  forth,  vigorous  and 
strong,  not  at  all  like  one  suflering  under  great  weak- 
ness and  pain.     8th,  The  Jews,  and  all  those  concerned 


LIFE    OP    CHRIST.  451 

in  this  transaction,  never  doubted  that  he  was  dead, 
but  spread  tlie  report  that  bis  disci}iles  bad  stolen, 
from  under  the  e3'es  of  the  guard,  liis  dead  body. 
Tliese  facts  are  so  conchisive  and  strong  that  critics, 
and  the  mass  of  even  skeptics,  have  given  their  assent 
to  the  reality  of  his  death.  The  great  fact,  then,  be- 
fore us  is  his  resurrection.  And,  here,  the  first  point  I 
make  is,  the  character  of  the  witnesses.  Are  they  men 
of  a  just  and  truthful  character?  Were  they  able  to 
know  the  facts  to  which  they  testify  ?  All  works  on 
evidence  insist  on  these  things  as  aiiecting  the  credi- 
bility of  witnesses.  JSTow,  we  are  to  remember  that 
those  who  put  the  facts  on  record  represent  the  testi- 
mony of  all  the  apostles.  They  all  affirm  and  act 
upon  the  belief  of  the  same  things.  Jesus  chose  these 
men,  earh^  in  his  ministry,  to  be  the  witnesses  of  his 
life.  They  were  with  him  to  its  close.  They  stand 
forth  as  men  without  a  stain.  They  lived  and  labored 
for  no  personal  aims.  They  sacrificed  home  and 
reputation  and  life  in  consequence  of  their  advocacy 
of  these  great  facts.  There  were  none  of  the  elements 
of  fanaticism  or  ambition  about  them.  Xot  a  particle 
of  malignanc}'  or  worldly  ambition  is  exhibited  in 
their  lives.  They  everj'wherc  inculcate  truth,  and 
love,  and  patience,  and  every  human  excellence.  They 
are  bright  lights,  radiant  with  the  nobler  and  holier 
elements  of  humanity.  They  were  familiar  with  all 
they  state.  They  knew  that  which  they  affirm.  At 
first,  in  their  anticipations  of  a  visible  kingdom,  they 
would  not  believe  that  Christ  would  die.  But  they 
were  compelled  to  believe  the  fact  when  it  transpired. 
Tliev  did  not  believe  that  he  would  rise  again  ;  they 
even   doubted  the  first  report  of  it;  they  yielded  at 


452  SEEMONS    ON    THE 

last  to  the  direct,  positive,  visiljle  fact,  and,  when  thus 
convinced,  they  believed  fully.  Then  it  was  they  be- 
came witnesses  of  what  their  eyes  had  seen  and  their 
hands  had  handled;  and  assured  of  its  truth,  as  a  liv- 
ing conlirmation  of  the  divine  gospel,  they  devoted 
themselves,  without  fee  or  reward,  to  the  proclamation 
of  this  truth  among  the  nations.  Whatever  might  be 
their  intellectual  attainments  as  tried  by  human 
standards,  as  witnesses  to  the  great  facts  of  the  life, 
death,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus,  they  hold  the  highest 
possible  character.  Such  are  the  witnesses  of  the  resur- 
rection. 

Permit  me  now  to  say  a  few  words  of  the  character 
of  the  proofs  given  to  them  of  his  corporeal  resurrec- 
tion. Luke,  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts,  says, 
To  whom  also  he  shewed  liimself  alive,  after  his  pas- 
sion, by  many  infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  them 
forty  days,  and  speaking  of  the  things  pertaining  to 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Jesus  arose  from  the  grave  in 
the  same  body  which  was  buried  there.  Wiiether  a 
change  commenced  at  the  time  of  the  resurrection 
which  advanced  and  w^as  finally  consummated  at  the 
ascension,  fitting  it  for  the  heavenly  life,  or  w- hetlier 
such  change  took  place  wholly  at  the  ascension,  is  not 
material.  The  assumed  fact  to  which  their  testimony 
is  given,  is  that  Jesus  rose  in  the  body  of  flesh  and 
blood  wdiich  lay  in  the  tomb.  Of  this  he  gave  his  dis- 
ciples ample  proofs — such  proofs  as  at  once  silenced 
their  unbelief,  evinced  that  he  was  not  a  mere  specter 
or  ghost  or  spirit,  but  ins[)ired  an  assured,  an  infal- 
lible faith  in  him  as  their  fully  risen  Lord.  What 
were  these  proofs  ?  1.  He  appears  to  them,  stands 
with  them,  and  walks  with  them  for  hours.     2.  lie 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  453 

communes  with  them,  teaches  them  high  and  spiritual 
themes  ;  directs  them  what  to  do  when  he  shall  linally 
leave  them.  3.  lie  sits  down  with  them  and  eats  meal 
after  meal  with  them.  4.  He  shows  them  his  wounds 
and  permits  them  to  feel  of  him,  to  assure  them  that 
his  hody  is  not  an  appearance,  but  solid  flesh  and 
bones.  Thomas  bad  declared  that  he  would  not  be- 
lieve, unless  he  could  put  his  hands  upon  him  and  feel 
his  wounds.  And  the  Savior,  out  of  compassion  for 
bis  fearful  spirit,  gave  him  the  very  test  of  his  resur- 
rection that  he  required.  Now  what  greater  or  more 
certain  proof  has  any  man  of  the  existence  bodily  of 
his  fellow-man  than  these?  Here  are  all  the  func- 
tions of  a  living  capacity  performed  in  his  presence. 
Here  is  sight,  hearing,  eating,  and  drinking,  feeling, 
walking,  sitting — full  companionship.  Are  not  these 
infallible,  assuring  evidences?  What  else  can  you 
imagine  as  sufficient  proof  if  these  are  not?  AVhat 
other  proof  have  you  of  anybody's  corporeal  existence 
beside  these?  As  men,  as  reasonable  men,  they  did 
believe,  and  now  they  bear  their  testimony  of  this  great 
fact  to  us. 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  ■proofs  to  these  wit- 
nesses of  the  resurrection.  Now  let  us  look  at  the 
character  of  the  communications  in  which  they  have 
announced  these  proofs  to  us,  in  order  to  warrant  our 
faith  in  the  resurrection.  I  do  not  mean  that  they 
have  narrated  to  us  all  that  occurred  during  the  forty 
days  before  the  ascension.  There  is  no  one  period  of 
the  life  of  Christ  on  earth  of  wdiich  this  is  true.  But 
they  have  given  to  us  specimen  proofs  of  this  great 
fact,  sufficient  for  our  conviction  and  faith.  If  w^e 
unite  the  testimony  of  Luke,  as  given  in  his  gospel, 


454  SERMONS    ON    THE 

with  that  given  in  the  opening  of  the  Acts,  then  we 
have  five  direct  narratives  in  which  the  resurrection 
is  wrought  out.  The  indirect  testimony  is  all  througli 
the  'New  Testament.  Of  the  direct  testimony,  I  shall 
omit  that  of  Paul,  for  the  present,  and  ask  your  atten- 
tion to  the  narratives  given  by  the  four  evangelists. 
First,  then,  it  will  be  seen  that  these  narratives  were 
written  or  published  at  different  times  and  different 
places.  They  were  written  to  meet  t'he  wants  of  dif- 
ferent sections  of  the  church,  that  a  true  account  of 
the  great  facts  of  the  gospel  might  be  placed  on  record 
and  transmitted  to  the  future  church,  when  the  living 
witnesses  would  be  in  their  graves.  These  witnesses 
are  independent  in  their  testimony  ;  each  narrative  is 
given  from  the  special  stand-point  of  the  witnesses,  and 
conforms  to  his  plan.  There  is  not,  and  from  the 
nature  of  the  case  can  not  be,  any  agreement  among 
the  writers  to  put  forth  a  well-concocted  statement  in 
the  same  form.  One  therefore  states  what  another 
omits;  one  states  facts,  in  a  few  sentences,  without 
reference  to  the  specific  time  or  order  of  their  occur- 
rence ;  while  another  draws  out  the  same  facts  more 
at  length,  and  states  more  definitely  the  place  and 
time  of  their  occurrence.  The  results,  four  distinct, 
independent  narratives,  diverse  in  manner,  in  order, 
in  the  number  of  facts  and  the  greater  or  less  fullness. 
But  the  great  fact  which  stands  out  foremost  in  each 
narrative,  and  about  which  there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt,  is  the  true  resurrection  of  Christ  in  the  same 
human  body  which  was  laid  in  the  grave.  It  is  im- 
possible, therefore,  for  the  mind  to  frame  a  testimony 
that,  for  all  the  ages,  would  be  more  convincing  to  all 
who  seek  after  truth. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  455 

2.  You  will  notice  that  when  these  narratives  are 
put  together  there  is  at  first  a  seeming'  confusion,  and 
in  one  or  two  instances  an  apparent  ditterence 
amounting  to  an  antagonism.  I  say  apparent,  for  we 
shall  see  it  is  only  apparent  and  not  real.  Now  this 
seeming  confusion  is  a  strong  argument  to  my  mind 
in  favor  of  the  sincerity  and  truthfulness  of  these  nar- 
ratives. I  reach  my  conclusion  on  this  point  in  this 
Avay.  The  event  itself  must  have  created  great  ex- 
citement and  more  or  less  confusion  in  the  consequent 
conduct  of  the  disciples.  They  were  sunk  in  profound 
despondency.  They  did  not  understand  and  did  not 
believe  in  his  resurrection.  The  women  who  first 
went  to  the  sepulcher  were  on  a  formal  errand  ;  they 
had  no  anticipation  of  such  an  occurrence.  It  breaks 
npon  them,  and  then  upon  the  others,  like  a  clap  of 
thunder  out  of  a  clear  sk\'.  It  scatters  them,  as  it  did 
the  guard,  in  wild  confusion.  There  is  rushing  back- 
wards and  forwards.  The  air  is  full  of  it.  Among 
the  disciples  there  is  begun  hope,  and  doubt,  and  cu- 
riosity, and  restlessness,  visits  to  the  tomb,  incoherent 
remarks,  one  asking  for  or  seeking  another,  rehearsals 
of  what  they  have  heard,  flying  reports  ;  just  such  con- 
fusion as  naturally  attends  so  great  an  event.  Then 
when  Jesus  appears  personally  among  them,  the  in- 
terest centers  in  him  at  once.  They  loose  sight  of  the 
events  of  the  morning,  in  the  deep  interest  which  now 
waits  upon  his  words  and  coming  movements.  Im- 
agine such  an  event,  or  any  great  event,  thus  suddenly 
occurring  not  far  from  the  city,  and  you  will  at  once 
dismiss  from  your  mind  all  idea  of  order,  ot  method, 
in  the  conduct  of  the  excited  hearers  and  witnesses. 
Such  things  do  not  take  on  themselves  the  advance 


456  SERMONS   ON    THE 


and  retreat  of  a  military  march.  Every  one  acts  on 
the  impulse  of  the  momeiit,  and  when  you  attempt  to 
gather  up  who  was  there  iirst,  or  afterward,  or  how 
they  acted  in  visiting  the  scene,  there  would  seem  to 
be  confusion. 

Now  the  narratives  of  different  persons  describing 
the  scene  would  take  on  the  character  of  the  scene 
itself.  One  writes  from  this  point,  and  another  from 
that  ;  one  bears  one  kind  of  testimony,  another  a 
somewhat  different ;  and,  putting  them  together,  at 
first  they  seem  confused,  until  you  institute  a  thorough 
examination.  This  is  precisely  the  fact  in  respect  to 
these  accounts  of  the  evangelists.  The  terrified  guards 
fleeing  ;  some  of  them  hurrying  into  the  city  to  teli 
the  chief  priests  ;  the  company  of  women,  astonished 
at  seeing  the  stone  rolled  away  ;  the  two  angels  ;  the 
words,  He  is  risen  ;  their  fright  and  flight;  Mary  Mag- 
dalene running  back  to  tell  Peter  and  John;  their 
running  to  the  sepulcher;  Mary  returning;  the  ap- 
pearance of  Jesus  to  Mary,  and  to  the  women — all 
are  just  like  the  reality,  just  what  we  should  expect 
on  such  an  occasion.  The  circumstances  are  reported, 
now  by  one,  then  by  another.  Each  narrator  hears 
one  part  or  another.  One  makes  a  deeper  impression 
than  another,  and  thus  he  writes  what  is  true  in  itself, 
yet  not  all  the  truth.  Thus  the  natural  scene  stamps 
itself  upon  the  narratives,  and  commends  its  truth- 
fulness to  every  thoughtful  mind. 
-  3.  I  now  remark  that  when  these  narratives  are 
fully  canvassed,  there  arises  a  substantial  agreement. 
As  to  the  great  fact  that  Christ  is  risen,  all  are  uni- 
vocal ;  there  is  no  obscurity,  no  confusion  in  their 
statements  here.     But  when  you  come  to  notice  the 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  457 

subsidiary  events,  there  is,  amidst  apparent  diversity, 
a  real  accord.  The  difficulties  are  only  such  as  would 
naturally  occur  in  different  writers,  each  looking  at 
and  liearing  of  the  facts  from  independent  points.  I 
do  not  propose  now  to  present  a  full  harmony  of  these 
narratives.  I  will  only  allude  to  two  things,  which 
are  supposed  to  be  contradictions.  The  first  is  the 
statement  of  Mark,  that  Jesus  appeared  first  to  Mary 
Magdalene;  wliile  that  of  Matthew,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  ap- 
peared to  the  other  women  first.  Two  methods  have 
been  adopted  to  obviate  the  difficulty.  The  first  is 
that  Jesus,  after  he  had  a})peared  to  Mary,  did 
actually  present  himself  to  the  women  on  tlieir  way 
to  the  disciples.  But  Robinson,  who  thinks  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  not  favorable  to  this  suppo- 
sition, insists  that  the  words  of  Mark  must  be  taken 
relatively,  and  not  absolutely.  He  himself  mentions 
only  three  appearances  of  Christ  on  that  day — one  to 
Mary,  to  the  two  disciples  going  to  Emmaus,  and  in 
the  evening  to  the  disciples.  Of  these  three  which  he 
mentions,  that  to  Mary  was  the  first,  and  that  to  the 
eleven  the  last.  But  he  determines  nothing  as  to  the 
other  appearances  on  that  day.  The  other  supposed 
contradiction  is  in  the  different  messages  given  to  tlie 
eleven  and  the  disciples.  One  of  these  is  that  they 
should  go  before  him  to  Galilee,  where  they  should 
see  him.  The  other,  that  they  should  tarry  in  Jeru- 
salem until  endued  with  [»ower  from  on  high.  But 
this  latter  command  was  given  after  they  had  gone  to 
Galilee,  and  at  the  close  of  his  forty  days'  ministry, 
and  has  no  relation  to  the  message  given  to  the  women. 
39 


458  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

The  more  thoroughly  you  examine  these  narratives, 
the  more  entirely  the  difficulties  in  respect  to  the  har- 
mon}'  of  the  parts  disappear;  while  in  respect  to  the 
one  great  fact  around  which  these  details  are  variously 
grouped,  everything  is  clear,  manifest,  undoubted. 
Around  a  lofty  monument,  trees  and  men  may  stand 
in  different  attitudes  and  relations,  and  those  who  de- 
scribe these  surroundings  may,  according  to  their 
point  of  observation  and  their  design,  represent  them 
as  they  appeared  to  them,  omitting  some  and  mention- 
ing others,  isolating  or  grouping,  or  omitting,  as 
seemed  most  consistent  with  their  purpose,  but  all  the 
time  the  monument  itself  is  the  grand  object,  and  out 
of  these  diversities  of  view  in  regard  to  its  surround- 
ings, that,  as  the  sublime  centre,  rises  heavenward, 
and  attracts  all  eyes.  Christ  is  risen,  is  the  wonderful 
fact  these  writers  and  the  apostles,  and  the  early 
Church  bear  testimony  to.  This  holds  its  own  place 
in  all  their  thoughts  and  reasonings,  but  the  circum- 
stances attending  it  may  vary  in  form  or  fullness  ac- 
cording to  the  view  of  each  witness.  Like  a  fugue  tune, 
these  minor  strains  of  circumstances  run  into  and 
repeat  or  separate  from  each  other,  but  out  of  the 
seeming  discord  comes  forth  at  length  the  magnificent 
harmony  that  tills  the  world  and  the  ages — Christ  is 
risen  ;  sin  is  conquered  ;  death  is  dead. 

4.  But,  leaving  the  furthov  consideration  of  this  sub- 
stantial agreement  of  these  witnesses,  I  ask  you  to 
notice  the  minor  scenes,  the  special  accounts  of  the 
actions  and  words  of  Jesus  and  his  friends  at  or  imme- 
diately subserpient  to  his  resurrection.  You  are  all 
aware  that  the  most  persistent  efforts  have  been  made 
at  various  times  to  shake  the  credit  of  these  witnesses. 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  459 

They  were  mistaken,  they  were  the  vlc'tiius  of  their 
own  excited  imaginations,  the  aceonnts  were  written 
long  subsequent  to  the  time  of  the  scenes  represented, 
where  a  mythical  form  had  been  given  to  what  was 
only  some  ordinary  occurrence.  They  combined  to 
impose  this  false  account  upon  tlic  world  for  tlie  true 
narrative  ;  these,  and  sucli  things,  have  l)een  asserted 
and  argued,  and  are  still  asserted,  in  order  to  get  rid  of 
the  transcendant  fact,  a  risen  Christ.  But  an  exami- 
nation of  the  narratives  at  once  puts  these  pretentious 
assumptions  to  flight.  The  transparent  artlessness  of 
the  writers,  the  congruity  of  each  narrative  with  itself, 
the  conformity  of  the  details  in  action  and  spirit  with 
the  nature  of  the  case  and  the  characters  represented, 
are  such  that  the  supposition  of  mistake,  or  imposi- 
tion, or  myth  are  utterl}-  incredible.  That  such  men 
should  have  originated  these  things  out  of  themselves, 
or  out  of  any  thing  but  the  facts  themselves,  would 
make  them  the  most  wonderful  intellects  in  the  world 
and  lift  them  into  the  circle  of  divine  power.  To  state 
this  argument  in  full  and  illustrate  it  would  be  to  take 
each  of  the  narratives  separately  and  dwell  upon  them. 
A  single  illustration  will  sufliciently  indicate  its  na- 
ture. The  one  we  take  is  from  the  20th  chapter  of 
John.  Mary  Magdalene,  on  coming  to  tlic  sepulcher, 
flnds  the  stone  rolled  from  it  and  the  body  of  Christ 
gone.  Without  a  thought  of  a  resurrection,  deeply 
distressed,  she  hurries  l)ack  to  tell  Peter  and  John. 
They  at  the  word  instantly  set  out  on  a  run  for  the 
tomb.  John  outruns  him,  reaches  the  sepulcher  first, 
stoops  down  and  looks  in,  but  does  not  enter.  Peter 
then  comes  up  and  boldly  enters.  Then  John,  over- 
coming his  natural   awe,  goes  in,  and  they  find  the 


460  SERMONS   ON    THE 

napkin  laid  by  itself  and  the  linen  clothes  laid  by  them- 
selves, all  in  order.  ISTow  yon  see  the  tonehes  of  natnre 
and  character  all  throngh  this.  Mary's  anxiety  to 
let  Peter  and  John  know  the  foct ;  their  liaste  and 
eagerness;  John  timid,  awe-struck,  stooping  at  the 
door;  Peter  bold,  rash,  at  once  entering  in;  John 
then  following;  the  clothes  and  napkins  folded  and 
each  laid  apart ;  was  there  ever  any  narrative  more 
artless,  more  characteristic  of  the  actors,  more  trans- 
parently truthful  ?  The  men  return,  and  Alary  arrives. 
There  she  stands  without  the  sepulcher,  weeping,  and 
as  she  weeps  she  stoo[)S  down  and,  looking  in,  sees  the 
two  angels,  one  at  the  head,  the  other  at  the  foot  of 
the  place  where  the  body  had  laid.  They  ask  her, 
"  Why  weepest  thou  ?"  The  answer  is,  "  They  have 
taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have 
laid  him."  Then  turning  round  she  sees  Jesus,  but, 
blinded  by  her  tears,  knows  not  it  is  him.  He  asks 
her,  "Why  weepest  thou?  Whom  seekest  thou?" 
She  entreats  him  to  tell  where  he  is  laid.  Jesus  saith, 
^'■^laryT'  Turning  herself  fully  towards  him,  she 
breaks  forth  with  a  cry  of  joy,  "  Rabboni !"  and  em- 
braces his  knees.  He  says,  with  beaming  kindness, 
"  Touch  me  not ;  I  live ;  time  enough  for  this  here- 
after; go  tell  the  disciples,"  etc.  Now,  how  artless, 
how  truthful,  how  true  in  every  word  and  line  to  na- 
ture, to  Mary,  to  Jesus  is  all  this  !  To  think  that 
these  men  could  invent  this,  and  then  go  and  die  for 
its  truth,  is  one  of  those  absurd  hallucinations  which 
lit  men  for  the  asylum  !  What  is  there  in  all  the  his- 
tory of  literature  so  artless,  so  tender,  so  true  to  charac- 
ter in  respect  to  Mary  ;  so  touchingly  affectionate  and 
commanding,  and  true  to  nature  in   respect  to  Christ, 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  461 

as  this  scene  at  tlie  sepulcher?  This  same  charactci' 
is  impressed  on  all  these  narratives,  and  many  a  man, 
for  a  time  blinded  with  unbelief,  or  doubtful,  A\-ith 
Thomas,  has,  through  the  argument  which  they  carry 
right  to  the  soul,  with  him  exclaimed,  "  Aly  Lord  and 
my  God  !" 

Passing  now  from  these  four  narratives,  we  must  say 
a  few  words  before  closing  of  the  fifth — the  testimony  of 
Paul.  This  is  a  distinct  testimony,  standing  by  itself 
and  invested  with  peculiar  importance.  The  witness  is 
himself  one  not  to  be  des})ised.  He  is  a  man  of  mark  in 
the  history  of  the  world;  in  the  power  to  inilueuee 
mind,  in  the  iniiuence  lie  has  exerted,  in  that  he  is  des- 
tined still  to  exert,  he  stands  pre-eminent  among  the 
intellects  of  the  world.  lie  is  not  only  one  of  its  intel- 
lectual kings,  he  is  the  greatest  of  them  all.  His  mind 
was  informed,  and  quickened,  and  adorned,  and  ex- 
panded by  all  the  classic  culture  of  ancient  Greece,  and 
superadded  to  this  and  dominant  over  this  was  all  the 
religious  training  possible  under  the  greatest  masters  of 
the  law  of  Moses.  A  Pharisee  in  religion,  he  was  a  bit- 
ter and  blood}^  opposer  and  persecutor  of  Jesus  Christ. 
llis  original,  mighty  mind  and  enthusiastic  soul  were 
consecrated  by  religion  to  the  overthrow  of  the  cross. 
Suddenlv  he  is  changed.  He  becomes  a  Christian. 
He  lays  his  heart  and  intellect  at  the  feet  of  Christ. 
He  puts  all  liis  ripe  powers  into  the  investigation  and 
proclamation  of  the  gospel.  He  is  a  contemporary  of 
the  apostles.  He  is  familiar  with  them  and  with  the 
scenes  through  which  they  pass.  He  is  personally 
acquainted  with  hundreds  of  the  disci [)les  wlio  had 
seen  Christ  after  his  resurrection  ;  he  testifies  that 
Jesus  in  his  ascended  body  had    revealed   himself  to 


462  SEEMO^'S    ox    THE 

him.  This  man,  whom  no  one  suspects  of  weakness, 
of  partiality,  of  ignorance,  of  childish  superstition,  of 
the  incapacity  to  discriminate  hetween  facts  and  imag- 
inations; this  man  concentrates  in  iiimsolf  and  an- 
nounces to  the  workl  the  testimony  of  the  apostles 
and  the  hundreds  of  disciples  who  saw  Jesus  after  his 
resurrection.  With  the  confidence  inspired  by  the 
truth,  a  confidence  that  made  him  an  apostolic 
preacher  to  all  the  Gentile  world,  he  declares  in  the 
15th  chapter  of  the  1st  Corinthians,  "  How  that  Christ 
died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that 
he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day, 
according  to  the  Scriptures;  and  that  he  was  seen  of 
Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve ;  after  that  he  was  seen  of 
above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once ;  of  whom  the 
greater  part  remain  unto  this  present,  but  some  are 
fallen  asleep ;  after  that  he  was  seen  of  James,  then  of 
all  the  apostles ;  and  last  of  all  he  was  seen  of  me  also, 
as  of  one  born  out  of  due  time." 

Such  is  the  distinct,  unequivocal  testimony  of  this 
prince  of  apostles  and  king  of  men,  after  years  of  full 
study,  to  the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  It  agrees  fully  with  the  narratives  of  all  the 
other  sacred  writers;  but  it  gives,  in  addition,  the 
special  appearance  of  Jesus  to  the  apostle  James  ;  and 
it  also  mentions,  with  a  minuteness  more  than  the 
others,  the  number  of  the  disciples  to  whom  he  mani- 
fested himself  on  the  mountain  in  Galilee.  This  is 
ane  of  the  incidental  corroborations  of  the  truth,  of 
great  importance.  It  will  occur  to  you  at  once,  how 
much  Jesus  insists,  as  stated  in  the  narratives  of  the 
evangelists,  on  the  return  of  his  disciples  to  Galilee, 
as  the  [)lacc  for  his  fullest  and  largest  manifestation. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  463 

In  Jerusalem  there  were  but  a  few  of  them,  and  tliose 
girt  in  Ijj  hostile  Jews.  But  in  Galilee  he  was  a  resi- 
dent from  youth  ;  there  lie  lived  most  of  liis  ministry  ; 
there  lived  the  mass  of  his  followers,  familiar  with 
liis  face  and  form,  the  witnesses  of  most  of  his  mir- 
acles, multitudes  of  them  healed  by  his  power  as  to 
their  bodies,  and  by  Lis  word  as  to  their  souls.  There 
he  will  make  a  full  demonstration  of  himself  and  liis 
resurrection  to  them  all.  He  appoints  the  place.  On 
a  lofty  elevation  ho  had  delivered  his  sermon  on  the 
mount,  early  in  his  ministry  ;  there  he  had  chosen  his 
apostles  ;  on  such  an  elevation  he  had  been  transtig- 
ured  ;  and  there,  too,  he  will  now  see  for  tite  last  time 
on  earth  the  body  of  those  who  had  become  his  dis- 
ciples. At  the  appointed  time  they  move  thither  from 
all  parts  of  that  countr}-.  Silently,  but  with  heightened 
expectation,  the}'  move  by  families  and  companies, 
until  more  than  tivc  hundred  are  concentrated  on  the 
mountain  summit.  Then  he  revealed  himself;  he 
shows  his  wounded  bod\' ;  he  comes  into  familiar  con- 
verse ;  he  gives  his  final  instructions  ;  he  gives  them 
all  the  elements  of  a  true  faith  in  his  resuri'ccticjn  ; 
and  henceforth,  they  have  sccn^  and  heard,  and  1)C- 
lieved. 

Permit  me  now  to  mention  together  the  various  re- 
corded appearances  of  Christ  after  his  resurrection  : 

1.  To  the  women  returning  from  the  sepulcher. 

2.  To  Mary  Magdalene,  at  the  sepulcher. 

3.  To  Peter,  during  the  same  day. 

4.  To  the  two  disciples  going  to  Emmaus,  towards 
evening. 

5.  To  the  apostles  (excepting  Thomas),  assembled 
at  evening.     These  tivc  took  place  at  or  near  Jerusa- 


464  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

lein,  upon  tlie  first  da}^  of  the  week,  the  same  day  on 
which  Christ  rose. 

6.  To  the  apostles  (Thomas  being  present),  on  the 
eighth  day  afterward  at  Jerusalem, 

7.  To  seven  of  the  apostles  on  the  shore  of  tlie  Lake 
of  Tiberias. 

8.  To  the  eleven  apostles  and  live  hundred  other 
brethren,  on  a  mountain  in  Galilee. 

9.  To  James,  probably  at  Jerusalem. 

10.  To  tlie  eleven,  at  Jerusalem,  inimediateljMjefore 
the  ascension. 

All  these  infallible  proofs  of  the  resurrection  men 
can  not  away  wnth.  In  vain  they  sa}^  :  The  super- 
natural is  impossible.  Such  an  accumulation  of  living- 
proofs  to  a  lie  is  equally  impossible.  We  must  give 
up  all  faith  in  history,  in  testimony,  if  we  give  up  such 
truth,  so  attested.  You  see  the  results  of  it  at  once 
in  its  effect  upon  the  disciples.  Weeping  and  mourn- 
ing, they  liad  spent  the  day  after  the  crucifixion  ;  now 
they  are  ra:.;c(l  to  the  highest  heaven  of  joy  and  faith. 
These  prejudiced  and  narrow-minded  men  swell  into 
intellectual  giants;  these  timid  men,  scattered  at  tlie 
first  blast  of  the  assault  in  the  garden,  are  moral  heroes, 
braving  death  and  coveting  the  crown  of  martyrdom; 
these  cautious,  silent  men  are  fired  with  a  sublime  en- 
thusiasm and  a  noble  eloquence.  In  little  more  than 
a  month,  just  after  the  departure  of  Jesus  to  heaven, 
right  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  they  arc  found  pro- 
claiming this  great  truth  to  the  multitude  there  assem- 
bled— Jesus  crucified  for  our  sins,  and  raised  up  from 
the  grave.  Hundreds  are  there  to  attest  the  truth. 
In  the  face  of  scribes  and  riiarisces  and  Sadducees, 
the  bitter  murderers  of  Jesus,  they  publicly  charge 


LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  465 


home  upon  them  the  crucifixion  of  the  Messiah,  and 
declare  his  resurrection.  A  strange  tremor,  a  wild" 
excitement  spreads  through  the  city.  In  a  day  the 
Christian  Church  is  organized,  and  numbers  its  thous- 
ands. That  testimony  to  the  fact  of  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  they  continue  to  bear,  amidst  persecutions 
and  trials,  unto  death.  That  flashed,  in  its  living 
power,  over  the  nations,  and  comes  down  to  us  through 
the  faith  and  zeal  and  love  and  hope  of  generation 
after  generation  of  the  saved.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
points  of  redemption.  How  grandly  it  stands  forth 
before  us  a  living  truth  this  day  !  It  is  the  triumph 
over  death  that  heralds  our  triumph  and  consecrates 
the  dust  of  the  Savior's  dead  to  immortality.  Who 
w^ould  have  the  conviction  of  that  triumph,  that  res- 
urrection, when  this  corruptible  shall  put  on  incor- 
ruption  and  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality,  torn 
from  his  heart  for  all  the  Avealth  of  time?  Who,  for 
all  the  thrones  of  this  world,  would  be  willing  to  settle 
down  in  despair,  and  write  on  the  tombstone  of  those 
dear  to  him  that  sad  epitaph,  "  Vale,  vale,  pro  eterni- 
tate  vale,"  which  an  unbeliever  once  inscribed  over  the 
grave  of  his  child.  He  died  for  our  sins,  he  rose 
again  for  our  justification — this  is  the  truth  that 
thrills,  exalts,  and,  as  it  is  received  in  the  heart,  saves 
humanity.  JSTo  ;  when  we  die,  put  over  our  dust  the 
anchor  and  the  crown  ;  the  anchor  that  holds  us  fast 
in  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  that  body,  the  crown 
that  symbolizes  the  crown  of  righteousness  we  expect 
to  wear  in  the  incorruptible  body  in  the  world  of  light. 


Date  Due 

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f) 

